Emma Raducanu saw off former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova with a superb display to return to the Wimbledon third round. But now the British No.1 will face world No.1 and hot favourite Aryna Sabalenka.
The Czech left-hander, 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 winning the Berlin Open and beating world No.30 McCartney Kessler in the opening round.
The tattooed Vondrousova also has a lot of variety in her game as mixes up slices, drop shots and looped forehands to try and disrupt the rhythm of her opponent.
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 after suffering more spasms and receiving “pretty bad news” before her latest home Grand Slam, the British No.1 has shown the mental and physical strength to beat teenage wildcard Mimu Xu and now the in-form Vondrousova. But a bigger challenge now awaits.
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. She only took three games off both Coco Gauff (Rome) and Iga Swiatek (French Open) earlier this summer.
The third match on Centre Court started at 6.25pm with half the playing surface covered in shadows.
The home favourite made the first move when she took her first break point with a running backhand pass down the line – followed by her first fist pump – to lead 4-2.
But Raducanu gave the break back in the next game when she hit a forehand long on Vondrousova’s third break point.
The British No.1 then made the third consecutive break with help from the Czech world No.73.Vondrousova saved two breaks points at 3-4 before gifting two more with double faults. She saved the first with a 114mph ace down the middle before she missed a forehand down the line on the fourth to allow Raducanu to serve for the set at 5-3.
And she took her third set point after 38 minutes when Vondrousova sent a forehand long.
In the third game of the second set, the Czech saved two break points but conceded the third after a fierce Raducanu backhand return forced her hit a forehand long.
Unlike in the first set, the Bromley-based star saved two breakback points in the next game to lead 3-1. And she broke Vondrousova for a fourth and final time when she took her first match point when the Czech hooked a backhand wide.
To be the first to receive the latest Wimbledon news, join our WhatsApp community or Wimbledon newsletter