- Raducanu will take on heavy favourite for the crown Sabalenka on Friday evening
- She took time to watch men’s No 1 Sinner in action after practice on Thursday
- The Brit said she is hoping to ‘learn by osmosis’ ahead of her huge match-up
Emma Raducanu will attempt to take down Wimbledon favourite Aryna Sabalenka by harnessing the power of osmosis.
After her practice, the 22-year-old and coach Mark Petchey spent 20 minutes watching Jannik Sinner, and Raducanu joked that proximity to one world No 1 might help her take down another on Friday.
‘Learning by osmosis!’ said Raducanu at the practice courts. ‘He is so effortless when he hits the ball. I have been trying to watch a bit more live when I am away. I watched Joao Fonseca the other day.’
So, can Raducanu beat Sabalenka? Watch them as much as she likes, Raducanu will never be able to belt the ball with the force of Sinner or Brazilian sensation Fonseca and there is a suspicion that for all her balletic movement and easy strokemaking, she lacks the power and physicality to trouble the creme de la creme.
She has failed to win a set in eight matches against the elite trio of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Sabalenka, but hope lies in the fact that not one of that octet of defeats was played on grass.
Indeed, of Raducanu’s three wins over top 10 opponents, two were on the lawns – here against Maria Sakkari and in Eastbourne against Jessica Pegula, both last year. This surface rewards easy, balletic movement and hand skills – two categories in which Raducanu scores highly.
Emma Raducanu is hoping to take inspiration from Jannik Sinner ahead of her toughest test yet
The British star watched men’s world No 1 Sinner practice for 20 minutes on Thursday
She joked that she is hoping to ‘learn by osmosis’ – but has been in fine form at Wimbledon
‘With grass, you get rewarded for staying in the point because a nothing ball, a slice in the service box, it’s very tricky to deal with,’ said Raducanu.
‘You are incentivized to chase one more ball down and scrap and turn points around.’
Raducanu’s ability to do exactly that was on show in her 6-3, 6-3 defeat of 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova. Data company TennisViz records a player’s ‘steal score’ in each match – the number of times they go from a defensive position to winning the point – and Raducanu’s score of 51 per cent was a mile clear of the draw average of 34.
Former world No 1 and BBC analyst Tracey Austin said after the Vondrousova match: ‘That was the best I have seen Emma play since she won the US Open. Her tennis was sensational.
‘I would say she has a chance to beat Sabalenka if Emma plays that way. The way she was returning today, if she can maintain that length, she can rush Sabalenka. There are a lot of parts of Emma’s game that can bother Sabalenka.’
That may be a bit of a stretch but Sabalenka, despite much improvement in this area, can still be vulnerable when opponents vary the tempo of the rallies. In the French Open final, Gauff’s array of slices and spins robbed Sabalenka of all rhythm, and Vondrousova did a similar job on her in Berlin earlier this month.
‘She’s world No1 for a reason,’ said Raducanu. ‘I don’t think I’m going to go out there and out-power her. I’m going to have to try and be creative.’
If the Brit does score the upset of her life, she will owe signore Sinner a limoncello.
