Emma Raducanu's cruel slice of bad luck as surprise Wimbledon exits continue
Emma Raducanu will face world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third around of the women's singles at Wimbledon after her impressive victory over Marketa Vondrousova. The resurgent Raducanu made it back-to-back wins at SW19, as she won 6-3, 6-3 on Centre Court.
The Brit was outstanding to beat 2023 Wimbledon champion Vondrousova, producing one of her best displays in recent memory. And with a women's draw opening up after a number of stars crashed out, Raducanu has been handed the toughest test of the lot.
Her reward is to face the best in the world, Sabalenka, who avoided becoming the latest top seed to exit the championships early, as she ground out a hard-fought win against Marie Bouzkova.
On a day when last year's runner-up, Jasmine Paolini, was knocked out, the Belarusian claimed a 7-6, 6-4 victory. Paolini's exit ensured that just one of the top five seeds will make it to the third round, with Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Qinwen Zhang crashing out early.
And Sabalenka admitted that she's been 'sad to see so many upsets' and she'll be aiming to jump over the hurdle of Raducanu.
"Honestly, it is sad to see so many upsets in the tournament in both draws," the 27-year-old admitted after beating Bouzkova. "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 think it's really important to focus on yourself and to take it one step at a time - do not really look at the draw. This is something that can create a lot of nerves and a lot of doubts."
Raducanu, 22, knows that she's in for a challenging match on Friday, saying: "She is number one in the world right now, so dominant on the tour and has won literally everything so and it is going to be a really difficult match. I'm just so happy with how I performed and all I can do is control my side of the court as best as possible.
"When you play an opponent like her you know you have to play well so I guess there is no pressure on me at all in the next round! I was really trying to stay focused today, I barely looked at my box and I just stayed focused on the tennis ball today."
Former British No.1 Annabel Croft described Raducanu's win as a 'statement'. Croft said on the BBC: "That's quite a statement Emma Raducanu has put out on this court and I think quite worrying for Aryna Sabalenka because she's going to be facing Raducanu playing at her best.
"If she can come out playing anything close to that level again, I mean she may not be allowed to play like that because Sabalenka is going to bring a lot of power to the court, but Sabalenka is capable of spraying balls around."
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