WIMBLEDON — Emma Raducanu would do well to avoid looking at the draw – in case she realises quite how possible a deep run at Wimbledon is starting to look.

Raducanu overcame first-round nerves and a scrappy performance to beat lucky loser Renata Zarazua on Centre Court on Monday, insisting “winning ugly” was all she was trying to do.

But it would have been a significant slip-up if she had lost out to the Mexican, who was a late replacement for No 22 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.

The Russian’s illness, only revealed a few hours before the match, was the first positive in a draw that is quietly opening up for Raducanu.

Second round

It is rare, if you enter a grand slam draw unseeded, to avoid one of the top 32 players in the first two rounds. But that is exactly what Raducanu has managed to do by virtue of Alexandrova’s illness.

She will play Elise Mertens in the second round, the Belgian whose consistency in the early rounds has been record-breaking in the past: she has reached at least the third round in 18 consecutive grand slams. The 28-year-old though has rarely made it much further than that, with just three quarter-finals and one semi-final to her name, and at Wimbledon the best she has done is the last 16.

Third round

From Begium potentially to the Netherlands for Raducanu, who even by reaching the third round will probably regard this campaign as a success.

But should she face world No 56 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands in the third round, it will be hard for Raducanu fans not to start dreaming of how far she really could go in the draw.

The Brit is probably more likely to face Maria Sakkari, the No 9 seed, whom she beat en route to the US Open title in 2021, but the Greek No 1 blows hot and cold at grand slams, having lost in the opening two rounds at her last five majors.

Sakkari is a significant bookies’ favourite against Rus, but few would back her with much confidence.

Fourth round

This is the stage at which Raducanu suffered breathing difficulties during a high-octane clash with Ajla Tomljanovic on No 1 Court, but three years on she has been up and down enough to suggest that this time around she will not find herself overwhelmed by the moment.

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She could face any one of four women but the highest ranked is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No 25 seed. The Russian has only played one tournament between the French Open and Wimbledon and lost in three sets to Magda Linette.

Her record at Wimbledon is nothing to write home about either. Pavlyuchenkova made the quarter-finals 10 years ago but has only won three matches at SW19 since.

Quarter-finals

There is, in theory, no such thing as an easy quarter-final draw, on the grounds that at a grand slam whoever you play has already won four matches. However, the guarantee of not having to face Aryna Sabalenka, who was slated to appear in this quarter, is a welcome one.

Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion and No 3 seed, pulled out on the morning of the first round with a shoulder injury that stopped her serving, and this means that the highest ranked player whom Raducanu could face in the last eight is world No 14 Daria Kasatkina, another Russian with a limited record of success on the grass of Wimbledon.

A chance?

When tennis is played on grass, nothing is predictable. The shorter three-set matches – compared to the five sets the men play – make the variance higher too but nevertheless, a rough mapping of Raducanu’s draw is a positive one.

If she can stay healthy and calm, the 21-year-old has the world at her feet, and anyone in New York three years ago knows she is capable of conquering it.