the times | Wednesday May 25 2022 2GMV2 67
Sport
Henman over Russia ban
John McEnroe, known as one of the
most controversial pundits in the sport,
waded into the debate late on Monday
night when he confronted his fellow
Eurosport pundit Tim Henman live on
television. Henman is a member of the
All England Club’s board and was
directly involved in the discussions
leading up to the ban. I think it was a
mistake by Wimbledon to do what they
did in the first place, kicking out the
Russians and Belarusians,” McEnroe
said. “I don’t know how they came up
with the Belarusians too, but that’s a
whole other story.
“That’s my opinion, compounded by
the fact that now the ATP and WTA
say no points, I don’t see how that helps
the players. If the players really believe
that Wimbledon has made a big
mistake, by not allowing the Russian
and Belarusian players to play, in my
opinion they should have boycotted the
tournament.”
Henman put on record his “sympa-
thy for the Russian and the Belarusian
players that cannot play”. However, the
former British No 1 was adamant that
Wimbledon could not go against
informal guidance that had been issued
by the UK government.
Henman also dismissed the possibili-
ty of players signing a written declara-
tion denouncing the Russian and Bela-
rusian regimes. “There’s no way that
they’re going to jeopardise the safety of
players and their extended family,” he
said. “That’s before you talk about the
propaganda of a Russian or Belarusian
receiving a trophy on Centre Court,
potentially, in the second week of
Wimbledon.”TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLANDworld No 1 over the summer even if he is barred from playing at Wimbledon
tough opponent that day,” Raducanu
said. “I think she played very well.
Equally I feel like at that point in
time, I maybe wasn’t ready to
compete. I didn’t take much of a
break after the US Open. I was
training four days after I won the
tournament.
“I am really looking forward to this
next match. I have personally gone
through a lot in the past 12 months
tennis-wise. I think I have developed
a lot and certain things have changed.
I am looking forward to it.”
Raducanu is one of three British
players remaining in the second
round of the singles draws. Dan
Evans has another rest day before
facing Sweden’s Mikael Ymer
tomorrow, while Cameron Norrie
today plays his sixth match in nine
days after winning the Lyon Open
last week. Confidence is high before
he takes on Australia’s Jason Kubler.
“I think if you look at the guys I
beat last week, they’re all clay-court
dogs,” Norrie, the No 10 seed at
Roland Garros, said. “They love the
clay and I managed to tough those
guys out in tough matches. For me to
win that title and to come through
that was great for me. It’s just trying
to look for my forehand a little bit
more and dictate with that.”
Raducanu’s winning smile, page 3A
s Emma Raducanu enters
a summer of hype and
expectation, the 19-year-
old will be maintaining a
rule that she imposed on
herself during her fairytale run at last
year’s US Open. Posts on social media
are allowed from time to time but
there will be no looking at the
thousands of comments in response.
It is well-documented that tennis
players are among the most abused
sportspeople, often attracting
expletive-filled outbursts from
angry gamblers. Heather Watson,
the British No 2, revealed last year
that she receives racist abuse and
even sickening death threats on a
weekly basis.
As a result, Raducanu heeded the
early warnings not to become
consumed with online comments
during her stunning rise to
prominence last year. She still
shares photographs with her
two million Instagram
followers, occasionally to
satisfy her sponsors, but
the section below is
very much off limits.
“I don’t really read
my comments on social
media,” Raducanu said.
“You could have
thousands of people
commenting great things,
but maybe the one bad one
will stick in your mind.
“I did it proactively at the US
Open because I had no idea of
anything that was going to follow. It
is just some great advice not to
check your comments ever. I
definitely love sharing the insights
into my life with my fans and the
people who follow me — not just
what they see out there in the press
or news maybe. I think I use that to
share, but then I also separate.”
By contrast, Raducanu does not shy
away from tapping into the
atmosphere in the stands during her
matches, whether positive or negative.There were fluctuations in the level of
support from the excitable Court
Simonne-Mathieu crowd for
Raducanu and her first-round
opponent, Linda Noskova, on
Monday depending on who was
behind in the scoreline. At
times it was reminiscent of
the feverish vibe at last
year’s US Open.
“I do like it, it just
gives you an energy,”
Raducanu said. “When
they are against you, it
gives you a bit of fire.
When they are with you,
it lifts you up to keep
going. It is pretty fun. I
think it is a complete contrast
to Wimbledon, but each is special in
their own way.”
Raducanu, seeded No 12 here,
admirably battled hard to overcome
the big-hitting Noskova from a set
down but she will have to raise her
game several notches to see off the
experienced Aliaksandra Sasnovich,
who is ranked No 47 in the world. The
Belarusian comfortably won their
only previous encounter 6-2, 6-4 in
the second round of the Indian Wells
Open last October, when Raducanu
was making her first appearance as a
grand-slam champion.
“I know that Sasnovich was a reallyAliaksandra
Sasnovich v
Emma Raducanu
Court Suzanne-Lenglen
Today, 10am
TV: Eurosport,
Discovery+‘I don’t read what people
say about me online. Ever’
Emma Raducanu is
feeding off the Paris
crowd while filtering
out the social media
noise, says Stuart Fraser
The 19-year-old plays in the second round today against the experienced SasnovichTIMES PHOTOGRAPHER MARC ASPLANDTsonga makes emotional farewell
One of the most emotional retirement
ceremonies in recent memory took
place on Court Philippe-Chatrier when
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga said
farewell to French fans at
the age of 37. The former
world No 5 was in tears
towards the end of his final
match, losing 6-7 (6-8), 7-6
(7-4), 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) to
Norway’s Casper Ruud.
Afterwards he was joined
by family, friends and
former coaches on the
court as video tributes from Rafael
Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic
and Andy Murray were shown. “I hope
the world can soon find as much
peace as I found today,” Tsonga said.Tsitsipas taken the distance
Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a first-
round scare in a late-night five-setmatch that finished at 12.34am local
time. The 2021 runner-up battled back
from two sets down to beat Italy’s
Lorenzo Musetti 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 as
spectators watched with
blankets over their legs to
keep warm on a chilly
evening. Tsitsipas is the
favourite to come
through the weaker
bottom half of the draw,
with Rafael Nadal, Novak
Djokovic and Carlos
Alcaraz all in the
opposite half. “I
struggle to find the
words,” the Greek said
during the on-court
interview afterwards.
“I’m tired, it’s late.”Djokovic facing uneasy reunion
Novak Djokovic today faces the
awkward prospect of going up against
his former coach in the second round.
Marian Vajda split with Djokovic in
March after close to 15 years together
and is now plotting the demise of his
former charge as the new coach of
Alex Molcan, the world No 38 from
Slovakia.
“I’ve written to Marian a few
days ago and we have seen each
other here as well,” Djokovic,
inset, said. “When I looked
at the draw, it wasn’t
easy, I must admit.
“Molcan for me is an
opponent just like any
other, but I’ve never
had Marian in the
opposing box. To
be honest, I am
not looking
forward to it.”stuart fraser’s french open diary
Tsonga was in tears
towards the end of
his final matchRafaelsp
bla
ke
ev
fav
tht
bo
wi
Dj
Al
op
struggletofi