WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Here's how hushed the crowd at No. 1 Court was before points Saturday: You could hear Emma Raducanu's palm slap her thigh while she waited to receive serves.
Here's how loud the place got after points: You could close your eyes and monitor the collective reactions that followed each — the "Awwwwww!" of disappointment or the on-their-feet roar of joy — as the 18-year-old became the youngest British player, female or male, to reach Wimbledon's fourth round in more than a half-century.
Yes, Coco Gauff now has some company when it comes to being a teen in Week 2 at the All England Club. Shortly before Gauff, a 17-year-old American, made her way to the fourth round at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament for the second time in a row by beating 102nd-ranked Kaja Juvan of Slovenia 6-3, 6-3 at Centre Court, Raducanu dropped her racket and knelt on the grass as she finished off her 6-3, 7-5 win over 45th-ranked Sorana Cirstea of Romania.
"Right now, I'm on such a buzz and such a high," said Raducanu, the 338th-ranked wild-card entry who is still waiting to find out the grades of her high school exams.
"When I heard the crowd just roar for the first time, I was like, ‘Wow, they're so behind me.' I was just feeding off of their energy," she said after displaying both slick groundstrokes, often on the run, that helped produce 30 winners, and a resiliency when things got tight. "I'm just so excited I get to play in front of them again."