Wimbledon 2021: British teen Raducanu feeling fresh for 'Manic Monday'

Emma Raducanu's self-belief flummoxed her parents who suggested their 18-year-old daughter was packing too much match kit for Wimbledon. On Saturday, she proved she was right to cram her suitcase as she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon. The Canada-born Raducanu, ranked 338 in the world, only made her debut on the WTA Tour in June but outclassed the vastly-experienced 45th-ranked Sorana Cirstea 6-3, 7-5. Raducanu, whose Romanian father Ian and Chinese mother Renee were in the crowd, fell to the turf of Court One holding her hands to her face in disbelief. "When I was packing for Wimbledon to come into the bubble my parents said 'are you not packing a bit too much match kit?'" she said. She may have had enough for the first week but even her confidence did not extend to being present on 'Manic Monday'. "Yeah, they [the staff in the changing rooms] were happy to help me out with some laundry. "I'll get that sorted today and Monday I'll have a fresh kit ready to go." Emblematic of her coolness was how she hit back from 3-1 down in the first set to rattle off eight games in a row and take control of the match. "I am so speechless," said Raducanu. "At the end I did not know what my reaction would be and I just dropped to the floor. "I was nervous beforehand as this is definitely by far the biggest court I have played on." However, Raducanu revealed that she had been allowed a sneak preview of the show court on the eve of the match. "I came out here and I sat courtside for about five minutes," she said. "They let me get a feel for the court, which I think was very valuable because when I went out there today, I sort of knew what to expect a little bit. "And once again, I thought if I'm not going to enjoy Court 1 at Wimbledon, home crowd, like what are you going to enjoy? "This is the cherry at the top of tennis." Raducanu, who moved to England aged two with her parents, will next play feisty Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. Raducanu had said on Thursday after reaching the third round she would place a spot in the fourth round of Wimbledon above top grades in her A level exams (Maths and Economics). She is still awaiting the results of the exams which she sat in April. She says she has received plenty of support from her school, Newstead Wood in Kent on the outskirts of London. They could be celebrating even more sporting glory with sprinter Dina Asher-Smith fancied to add Olympic 200 metres gold to the world title she won in Doha in 2019. "The teachers have always cut me a lot of slack, I would say, when I come back," said Raducanu, who never crossed paths with Asher-Smith as she left the year she arrived. "I get, like, delays for tests and stuff. "I'm really, really grateful for all of their support in the seven years I've had at Newstead. "I have actually received a few emails from my school teachers. My maths teacher emailed me today congratulating me." Raducanu may have been proven right over her parents -- who she says are both in the finance world -- in how much she packed but she is first to praise her mother especially in teaching her values. "My mum has always instilled a lot of, like, discipline, respect for other people into me," she said. "I think having parents like I do, they always push me. "They have high expectations. I've always tried to live up to that. "And I hope I did them proud this week. I'm going to try to keep going."