British teenager Mimi Xu is targeting a major upset when she plays Emma Raducanu in the first round of Wimbledon.
Xu, 17, is ranked No 302 in the world and was a wild card entrant to the Wimbledon championships.
Looking forward to her clash with former US Open champion Raducanu, the Welsh teen said: “I feel like I’m really ready for it. I’m really excited for it. Obviously she’s done so well in her career and I’m at the beginning of mine.
“So I think it’s going to be a really good test for me, really good opportunity for me to just go out and play and have fun. I think she’s a really good role model to have.”
But her admiration for Raducanu won’t prevent her from pushing for victory.
“I’ve been playing really well,” she said. “So I think my game really suits grass. I’m really confident in my game at the moment.
“I’m going to go out there, enjoy every moment, give it a good go. And I believe I’ve got a good chance if I do all that.”
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Emma Radacanu says dealing with her recurring back spasm can be frustrating and admits it’s an issue that comes and goes.
They are familiar with each other already. Xu came through the Lawn Tennis Association’s national academy at Loughborough and remembers watching Raducanu win the US Open in 2021 with the other players who boarded there.
The pair are friendly, sometimes talking together in Mandarin, with Xu’s parents both of Chinese heritage along with Raducanu’s mother.
They got to know each other better when Xu was a hitting partner for the British team at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga last November.
Raducanu is coming into Wimbledon this year after a difficult couple of matches at Eastbourne amid “some really bad” personal news, while she continues to battle a niggling back problem.
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Highlights from the Internationaux de Strasbourg quarter-finals between Emma Raducanu and Danielle Collins.
There were no signs of discomfort when the 22-year-old trained at the All England Club on Friday, although she was well beaten in a practice set on Court One by former champion Elena Rybakina.
Xu could find herself playing the British No 1 on one of the main courts. But Xu said: “I’m really ready to embrace it and really just go out and enjoy it. At the US Open last year I got to play on Louis Armstrong, which I think was an amazing experience as well.
“So I’ve had that kind of big court, big stadium experience. And if I do get to play on that court, I’m really excited.”
