Emma Raducanu and British players prioritising Wimbledon over going to vote

Emma Raducanu revealed she did not know the general election was happening on Thursday and admitted she will be focusing her tennis over going to vote.

The 21-year-old Brit impressed on Centre Court on Wednesday with a wonderful display to defeat Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-1 6-2 in straight sets and progress into the third round at Wimbledon where she will next face No.9 seed Maria Sakkari.

Speaking after her win, Raducanu was asked if she would vote before heading to practise on Thursday to which she replied: “No. I think I’ll have a lie-in, then I’ll come to practise.

“I didn’t even know it was tomorrow, to be honest! Thanks for letting me know.”

Raducanu became the latest British player to prioritise their tennis over the general election as both Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart acknowledged that they may not get a chance to vote ahead of their second round clash on Thursday.

Raducanu defeated Elise Mertens in the second round at Wimbledon. (REUTERS)

Boutler, who defeated Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the first round on Tuesday, said: “For me, I’m going to stick to the tennis right now,

“I don’t see myself as someone who’s going to get involved in anything but tennis that day for the moment. I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.”

Meanwhile when asked if she had plans to vote, 27-year-old Dart added: “I haven’t given it much thought. Albeit, my sister works for an MP. I’m sure she’ll be on at me to vote. But yeah, we’ll see.”

Katie Boulter beat Germany’s Tatjana Maria to set up a second round clash with fellow Brit Harriet Dart. (AFP via Getty Images)

Elsewhere, Jack Draper, the men’s British No. 1, claimed there wasn’t much time to focus on politics during the tournament as Wimbledon is a busy and hectic time.

“No,” he answered when asked if he would be following the general election on TV. “No. It’s a crazy busy time for us tennis players. There’s not much TV-watching. There’s not much time to be thinking about that.”