Emma Raducanu's valiant Wimbledon defeat shows future is even brighter than the past

Independent

8 hours ago

Emma Raducanu is back. That will be scant consolation as she tries to get over the immediate crushing disappointment of this straight-sets defeat to Aryna Sabalenka but should provide comfort when she looks back on her exploits at Wimbledon 2025 in the weeks to come.
The shadow of that 2021 US Open triumph has loomed large for so long – her exploits as a 19-year-old in New York on those balmy late-summer evenings four years ago defining her. It was somehow the very best and worst thing that could have happened so early in her tennis career.
The injuries, on-court struggles, lack of wins over top 10 opponents and off-court drama were all magnified as an inexperienced player subsequently tried to find her way as a pro. Yet she – and perhaps more pertinently those who watch and support her – have now definitively moved and can enjoy the next phase.
The back injury that forced Raducanu's withdrawal from the Berlin Open and marred her build-up to this year's tournament at the All England Club was a forgotten irrelevance as she built on one of her finest performances over former champion Marketa Vondrousova in the previous round to give the best player in the world all she could handle in a bout of classic, late-night Wimbledon drama.
'I had to fight for every point like crazy,' admitted Sabalenka after a 7-6, 6-4 win in exactly two hours. 'She pushed me so hard.'
Sabalenka is a force. Her power is unmatched in the women's game but you don't get to world No 1 and win three grand slams as she has done with a one-dimensional arsenal. She needed all of her exquisite drop shots and flicked winners to hold off an opponent who proved every bit her equal.
This was probably the best display Raducanu has put in since that 2021 US Open run and while consistency is now the next challenge, this reminded everyone, even in defeat, that she has the ability of a top-five player. She impeccably controlled Sabalenka's power in a way few can, with deep groundstrokes and pace variations while firing off perfectly-placed winners of her own.
'I'm happy to see Emma healthy and I'm pretty sure that soon she's going to be back at the top of the game,' explained Sabalenka afterwards.
The pair combined to produce a first set that may well end up being the best of this year's championship. A 74-minute instant classic that ebbed and flowed, full of classy shot-making and dogged grit concluded with Sabalenka edging a remarkable tiebreak 8-6.
But Raducanu fought. Hard. She demonstrated resilience in the face of every setback, somehow staving off seven break points at 5-4 down in that first set during an epic 13-minute game to eventually secure the hold.
She came agonisingly close to snatching the tiebreak, seeing a set point of her own slip by, and even once she had lost it, didn't wilt. She roared out of the blocks in the second set for a 4-1 lead, although she finally ran out juice as Sabalenka ground out five games in a row to book a fourth-round spot.
The women's singles at Wimbledon has become the domain of the surprise winner in recent times. Yet now having seen off someone who knows a thing or two about being an unlikely grand slam champion herself, Sabalenka looks well set to buck that trend.
With the five women immediately below her in the world rankings having already crashed out, can anyone stop her? Raducanu came close but it will take a monumental effort from someone else in the draw.
This clash will live long in the memory of all those present. There is something special about Centre Court at the All England Club of an evening, with the sun slowly going down outside and the roof closed to send the noise bouncing into every nook and cranny. Throw in a British underdog valiantly raging against the riding tide and you've got a quintessential Wimbledon experience.
The foundations of this iconic sporting church were shaking throughout as a raucous home crowd left no doubt about who they rooting for. 'Wow, what an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting,' laughed Sabalenka in her post-match courtside interview.
This felt like the Raducanu who won the US Open back in 2021, or at least the one who so impressively beat former champion Vondrousova in the previous round, as she got the raucous support genuinely believing something special was possible.
She fashioned three break points in the fifth game of the match and took the third thanks to a return at full stretch followed by a well-constructed point that ended with her opponent netting. Cue a deafening roar and crowd celebrations more akin to a semi-final than a first-set break in round three.
However, Sabalenka soon began to settle in and reduce the error count. She pounced on some inaccurate Raducanu groundstrokes to earn a break back to love at 3-4 before moving within a game of the first set with the subsequent ruthless hold.
Then that ludicrous 13-minute game as a timely ace, five unreturned serves and a missed backhand down the line somehow saved seven separate set points as the Brit ground out a monumental hold
Raducanu overcame a nasty-looking slip at the net in the next to earn a break herself and, from looking like the first set had gone, Raducanu was suddenly serving for it.
Yet the constantly shifting momentum would soon make another left turn. Sabalenka re-focussed after the loss of serve, won the first three points to move 0-40 ahead and withheld a mini fightback to seal the game on the third break point and send it to a tiebreak.
The pair traded mini-breaks but were still locked at 5-5 when Sabalenka netted a forehand as Raducanu earned a set point.
The world No 1 then proceeded to do world No 1 things as an audacious, gutsy drop-shot winner saved it in style and when she got another one herself, a put-away volley on the stretch sealed an 8-6 tiebreak win after 74 gruelling, heart-stopping minutes.
It would have been understandable if Raducanu had wilted at this point – the disappointment of losing that first set being too much to bear. Instead, she stood tall and fought.
The fourth game of the second set was supreme. She managed Sabalenka's power, floating back the grenades being fired at her and deservedly broke serve to 15. The Belarusian's decisive forehand miss was greeted with a defiant fist pump to her coaching box from the Brit.
The work could immediately have been undone at 0-30 in the next game, yet she battled back for a crucial hold and at 4-1, the second set was at her mercy.
But from there, it turned. A break point slipped by in the next, Sabalenka hit her straps and broke back before holding with ease and breaking again to serve for the match. One last gasp from Raducanu saved the first two match points but third time was a charm and Sabalenka can looked forward to a last-16 tie with Elise Mertens.
But for the home crowd, this was Raducanu's day. The day she showed she can hang with the best and that it's time to look forward not back. The future might now prove to be more exciting than the past.