Emma Raducanu steamrolls Elise Mertens – and delights in Murray pairing

• Briton reaches Wimbledon singles third round 6-1, 6-2
• Mixed doubles with Andy Murray ‘a dream of mine’

What a major statement of intent this was from Emma Raducanu, who swatted aside Elise Mertens 6-1, 6-2 to move into the last 32. But there was something else too. A sense of demons being banished – and a level of tennis that signalled a zest to go deep into this Wimbledon fortnight.

The last time Raducanu played on Court One, as an 18-year-old in her first grand slam in 2021, she suffered nerves and a shortness of breath, which forced her to retire in her fourth-round match against Alja Tomljanovic. But against Mertens, a player ranked 33rd in the world, it was only the crowd that was left breathless. Raducanu really was that good.

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