Emma Raducanu shows true colours after Wimbledon interview interrupted

Emma Raducanu jokingly held the microphone towards the Wimbledon crowd as they continually interrupted her on-court interview with adoring heckles. A fantastic straight-sets victory over former champion Marketa Vondrousova sent the British star flying into the third round, where she will face world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Despite her inconsistent form over the past three years, Raducanu is a huge favourite of the Wimbledon crowd. Her matches at the All England Club this year have played out in the backdrop of vociferous support for the 2021 US Open champion. Fans have disrupted both of her on-court interviews so far. Raducanu took the interruptions in good spirits, seeming jovial and laughing throughout. One inaudible shout even prompted surprised laughter from the 22-year-old.

Raducanu paused after being asked a question about Sabalenka and laughed in a dismayed manner. In an amusing moment, she then lifted up the microphone and turned it to the person in question, seemingly suggesting that they should take the floor instead.

Fans are desperate to see Raducanu return to the heights of her Grand Slam success aged 18. BBC presenter Rishi Persad, who was asking the questions of the British No. 1 on court, remarked that people had shouted that it was the best they had seen Raducanu play since her US Open triumph.

Injuries and dips in form have prevented her from consistently playing that well in the intervening four years. However, she has been excellent at Wimbledon so far and is yet to drop a set in her two matches, both of which presented tough circumstances.

Raducanu successfully navigated a potential banana skin against British wildcard Mimi Xu, 18, and has now comfortably defeated Vondrousova. Both of those matches finished 6-3 6-3.

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Full of confidence, Raducanu is excited to test herself against Sabalenka and has relinquished the pressure from her shoulders ahead of the match.

"She is number one in the world right now," Raducanu said of her third-round opponent during her on-court interview. "She's so dominant on the tour, she's won literally everything so it's going to be a really difficult match. All I can do is control my side of the court as best as possible. When you play an opponent like her, you know you have to play well. Yeah, I guess there is no pressure at all on me in the next round!"

Sabalenka was given a tough time against Marie Buskova earlier in the day. The Belarusian needed a tiebreaker to win the first set before taking the second 6-4.