Emma Raducanu wears her trademark Tiffany earrings as she takes Centre Court by storm for her second round showdown (but LOSES her first set)
- US Open champion is back in action against Caroline Garcia of France at SW19
- She breezed past Alison Van Uytvanck to make second round of the tournament
- Raducanu was met with cheers and applause but some empty seats remained
Emma Raducanu was met with cheers and applause as she stepped onto Centre Court at Wimbledon this afternoon for her second round match with Caroline Garcia – but a number of empty seats still remained.
Wearing her trademark Tiffany earrings, the US Open champion, 19, was back in action after breezing past Alison Van Uytvanck on Monday.
She was one of nine British players – a record number – who made it through to the second round.
A win over 28-year-old Garcia would book Raducanu’s place in the last 32 of the championships – but the teenager got off to a rocky start, losing the first set 3-6.
But despite being arguably the star attraction of the tournament, crowds have stayed sparser than usual in SW19 due to coronavirus fears and wet weather.
Emma Raducanu was met with cheers and applause as she stepped onto Centre Court at Wimbledon this afternoon for her second round match with Caroline Garcia – but a number of empty seats still remained
Wearing her trademark Tiffany earrings, the US Open Champion, 19, was back in action after breezing past Alison Van Uytvanck on Monday
Emma Raducanu during her second round match Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Day 3, The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London
Britain’s Emma Raducanu in action during her second round match against France’s Caroline Garcia
Britain’s Emma Raducanu acknowledges the crowd as she walk onto centre court with France’s Caroline Garcia before the start of their second round match
Emma Raducanu during her second round match Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Day 3, The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
The teenager got off to a rocky start, losing the first set against Caroline Garcia 3-6
Some 36,603 fans attended the first day while 39,450 came on the second.
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) organisers had expected 42,000 tickets to be sold daily.
This year marks the return to full capacity for the first time since 2019 amid cancellation in 2020 due to coronavirus and a 50% limit in 2021.
Coronavirus has taken out last year’s runner-up and one of the favourites for this year’s men’s title, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, and Croatian former finalist Marin Cilic.
Mark Wyatt, 32, a fitness manager based in Wanstead, east London, said people were still cautious about returning to his gym due to coronavirus and he believed the same worries were affecting the Wimbledon turnout.
He said: ‘Wimbledon was reaching its peak in 2019 after ‘Murray mania’ and people really getting into tennis, and I think it’s taken a hit with numbers this year, and the weather not being quite as hot as it has been is maybe a reason.
‘It’s definitely not as busy as it was previously. I think Covid would put some people off for sure.
‘You’ve had people not going to sporting events, getting out of (the) habit, isolating a lot, not necessarily having social contact.’
Mr Wyatt, who was queueing for premium on-the-day tickets on Wednesday morning with his father David Wyatt, 68, pointed out that many empty seats were in the corporate sections of the stands, leaving less space for ‘true tennis fans’.
The gym trainer said: ‘I do feel that if they didn’t get quite as many corporate tickets or giving these tickets to these associations and then people are taking them or turning up, we’d get better atmospheres for these big players, which would help.’
Britain’s Emma Raducanu falls during her second round match against France’s Caroline Garcia
Emma Raducanu during her second round match Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Day 3, The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Emma Raducanu of Britain eats a banana during a break in the women’s second round match against Caroline Garcia
Britain’s Emma Raducanu during her second round match against France’s Caroline Garcia
His father, a retired teacher, added: ‘When we’ve occasionally had a wet Sunday play, and they just sold tickets to everybody and it was the real tennis fans that turned up, there were no corporate people at all and it was a totally different atmosphere.’
Alex Woods, 34, a consultant for an advertising firm in Bristol, said he believed the cost-of-living crisis and airport chaos was also impacting ticket sales.
‘There’s obviously a few things going on at the moment which probably prohibits people coming to things like this – it’s an expensive day out,’ he told PA.
‘You’ve seen at Lord’s as well, the cricket’s not been selling out, and that’s normally guaranteed.
‘Also, it’s harder to move around, getting into this country is probably putting a few international tourists coming to Wimbledon off.
‘It’s a shame, particularly when you see the later matches – Murray the other day with a few empty seats – thinking I’d love to be there.
‘But at the same time the atmosphere is great, there’s a good amount of people here today, and obviously not being able to come to these sorts of things the last couple of years, or reduced at Wimbledon last year, I think it’s still pretty great.’
Tom Walewski, 64, who travelled from the Polish capital of Warsaw for the tournament, said seeing empty seats in Centre Court was ‘frustrating’ because ‘there are a lot of people who really want to go and see and enjoy the day’.
‘I don’t really know what the policy is regarding tickets, attendance, however, people who are queuing desperately want to go to the Centre Court, and second choice is of course Court 1,’ he said.
On Tuesday, tennis titan Serena Williams, 40, suffered a surprise defeat in her first singles match against France’s Harmony Tan – possibly marking her last Wimbledon appearance.
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