The good news for Emma Raducanu is that she served up a tactical masterclass on Centre Court – and won the best point of her career – to outclass former champion Marketa Vondrousova.
The bad news is that her reward is a third round tie with world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka. But the British No.1 now has a free hit in her home Grand Slam after overcoming her back issues and “pretty bad” personal news to reach the third round in style without dropping a set.
Vondrousova, now 26, has suffered from injuries since her sole Grand Slam triumph here in 2023 – and followed Raducanu in becoming only the third player in the Open era to lose in the first round of her title defence last year.
But the world No.73 faced Raducanu on a run of six consecutive wins against top 50 players after lifting the Berlin Open title – including a victory over Sabalenka – and beating world No.30 McCartney Kessler in the opening round.
The Czech left-hander is covered in different tattoos and has as much variety in her play. She mixes up slices, drop shots and looped forehands to try and disrupt the rhythm of her opponent in a tennis game of cat and mouse. But Raducanu responded by adding pace to her shots – and especially hitting low and hard into the Czech’s forehand – to win 6-3 6-3 in only 82 minutes.
Helped by her coach Mark Petchey, it was a tactical triumph as she repeated her second round win over Vondrousova on her debut here in 2021. Her returns were superb as she broke her opponent’s serve four times and she has developed her slice on grass to get out of trouble. She even won a ridiculous point in the seventh game of the second set after sending up two defensive lobs before smashing a backhand crosscourt winner.
“I think today I played really, really well,” she said. “There were some points that I have no idea how I turned around. I turned one point around that I think is probably the best point I’ve ever played, so that was pretty crazy. I’m just so happy how I competed, put my game out on the court and I was really focussed the whole way through.”
She was so “locked in” she did not even glance up at the Royal Box to see Rebel Wilson, Dave Grohl and Thomas Tuchel cheering her on.
“I knew today I had to be aggressive because Marketa would beat me if I pushed the ball around,” she added. “Mark has helped me a lot, everyone in that box. The atmosphere was electric and I am just so happy to get to play another match here.”
The next match is the biggest challenge in the game. The 2021 US Open winner has beaten three top-10 players – including world No.5 at Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne last year – but three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka will be a step up in class. And she has never taken a set off a world No.1.
This Wimbledon has been already full of shocks with French Open champion Coco Gauff and Australian Open finalist Alex Zverev out in the first round.
And the No.1 seed Sabalenka is not keen to see more. After her win over Marie Bouzkova, she told the Centre Court crowd: “I hope there are no upsets anymore in this tournament, if you know what I mean!”
And the Belarusian later added: “Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament, in both draws, girls’ and men’s,. It’s sad to see.
“Of course, I know about all of these upsets. “I’m just trying to take it one step at a time. I know if I’m focused, if I’m there, if I’m fighting, I know I’m going to have my chance in each match. I’m just trying to take it one step at a time.”
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