U.S. Open champ Emma Raducanu after crashing out of Wimbledon: 'There's no pressure'

Reigning U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu dealt with a side strain late this spring that limited her to just seven games on grass ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, but the popular 19-year-old did well to defeat Alison Van Uytvanck in the first round of the summer Grand Slam earlier this week. 

That was as good as Raducanu's Wimbledon run would get. 

Raducanu crashed out of the Wimbledon women's singles tournament on Wednesday via a second-round straight-sets loss to Caroline Garcia. As Tom Hamilton explained for ESPN, the result was Raducanu's third second-round defeat in a Grand Slam since her historic triumph in New York last year. 

Raducanu tested positive for COVID-19 in December and has battled through numerous physical issues throughout 2022. Per Hamilton and Sky Sports, Raducanu insisted after her latest on-the-court setback that she hasn't felt additional stress to perform on the biggest stages following her meteoric rise to fame. 

"There's no pressure. Like, why is there any pressure? I'm still 19. Like, it's a joke. I literally won a Slam,'' Raducanu said about her mindset and, possibly, about those already labeling her a one-hit-wonder. "Yes, I have had attention. But I'm a Slam champion, so no one's going to take that away from me. Yeah, if anything, the pressure is on those who haven't done that.''

Raducanu will now prepare to defend her crown in the Big Apple later this summer. 

"Going back to New York, it's going to be cool because I have got a lot of experiences playing on big courts, playing with people in the stadium, playing with the spotlight on you,'' she added during her comments. "I don't mind that. I mean, for me, everything is learning. I'm embracing every single moment that is thrown at me.''