Following a two-week action-packed showdown at Roland Garros, the tennis world is now all set to shift its focus to the lush green courts at SW19. Two former Grand Slam champions, Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu, didn’t have a great outing on clay. The Japanese star went down to Paula Badosa in the first round of the 2025 French Open. After that defeat, Osaka got a bit emotional and said, “I hate disappointing people.” But her disappointment followed her all the way to the grass courts as well. She went down to Liudmila Samsonova in Berlin in the first round itself, and then again, she faced yet another setback.

On the other hand, Emma Raducanu has been slowly and steadily making progress on the women’s Tour. After her heroics in Miami, reaching the quarterfinal, she made it to yet another quarterfinal at the HSBC Championships, and guess what? She’s now one step away from making it to her third QF appearance of this season. But why did Raducanu get so emotional after her R32 match against America’s Ann Li? Let’s break down each of their stories one by one.

America’s Emma Navarro shows the exit door to Naomi Osaka at Bad Homburg

Naomi Osaka started the season quite impressively by reaching the final at the ASB Classic. However, she was forced to give a mid-match walkover to Clara Tauson in that epic final. Her Australian Open dream also came to a similar ending in the third round, and then after a series of upsets, Osaka finally got the taste of a title triumph at the WTA 125K Saint-Malo. Unfortunately for the Japanese, she failed to hold on to that winning momentum in the rest of her tournaments.

Although at the Bad Homburg Open, she started her campaign quite impressively by defeating Serbia’s Olga Danilovic by 7-6(8), 7-6(6), her journey came to an end in the very next match. Talking about her first match, it took her 2 hours and 5 minutes to beat the Serbian. She fired 16 aces in that match and after securing the victory, Naomi Osaka said, “It’s my first grass-court win of the year, so I’m really excited about that. I think I have potential [on grass], but everyone else is also really good.”

Her potential came up to a stern test at the hands of the world number 10, Emma Navarro. The American took just 1 hour and 27 minutes to seal the deal against the four-time major champion. After her 6-4, 6-4 win against Osaka, Navarro said, “I think I played a lot of good tennis. So did she, she made it really tough on me.”

Will this defeat be a major blow to Naomi Osaka’s confidence levels ahead of Wimbledon? Perhaps a bit! But talking about her chances on grass, American legend, Andy Roddick said, “There’s no reason why [Osaka] can’t play well on grass. I think she needs to focus on that first-strike tennis, maybe move her serve around a little it more, and take some chances on the second serve so her movement doesn’t get a chance to get exposed as often.” Will Osaka learn her lessons from these defeats and come up with a better performance at Wimbledon? We’ll see, but talking about learning lessons, Emma Raducanu has surely learned one or two on how to excel on grass courts.

Emma Raducanu’s emotional rollercoaster ride in Eastbourne

Despite having a poor start in her R32 match against Ann Li, the 2021 US Open champion, Emma Raducanu stole a victory by sealing the deal at 6(5)-7,6-3,6-1. Although this incredible comeback win was a moment of joy for her fans, family, and team members, the Brit broke down in tears after the match. But why? 

“I’d prefer to not go in to it if that’s OK, but I just received some really bad news so I’m trying to overcome that in the background,” said Raducanu in her post-match interview. Later on, she even went on to thank her peer, Fran Jone,s by saying, “Mentally, in the first set, I wasn’t really present. Fran Jones was there for me because she’s a good friend of mine, so she knows what’s going on behind the scenes. Having her support me was so meaningful.” She also thanked the crowd for showing their support in these tough times.

Next up for her is Maya Join (AUS), and the Aussie will be getting this contest after her recent win over the two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur in the previous round. Emma Raducanu has a 1-0 lead in the H2H record against Joint. Can she extend that lead, or will the Aussie come up with yet another surprise in this tournament? Time will tell! But for now, it’s time to shift our focus to another interesting story ahead of the 2025 Wimbledon. 

British legend, Andy Murray, to be honored with a statue at Wimbledon

If Emma Raducanu is the future of British tennis, Andy Murray is the stalwart of the racket sport in British tennis. Murray has won three major titles in his 20-year-long professional career (which came to an end in August 2024). Among those three titles, two came at Wimbledon (2013, 2016).

Now, to celebrate his everlasting legacy at this iconic grass court tournament, the tournament organizers have recently decided to build his statue in 2027 (the year which marks the 150th anniversary of Wimbledon). What was his reaction after hearing this news?

In an interview with BBC Sport, Murray said, “There have been a few interesting statues over the years, but I would expect that with Wimbledon and their attention to detail that I’m sure it will be great. I’m very proud, there’s not many statues around the grounds there, and I always remember seeing the Fred Perry statue when I’ve walked around the grounds and gone to train and practice there over the years. It will be very special.“

With all these recent developments during the grass-court swing, who do you think has the higher chance of lifting the title at Wimbledon in both men’s and women’s divisions?