
Emma Raducanu goes down swinging in thrilling loss to Aryna Sabalenka
The 22-year-old played some electrifying tennis under the roof on Centre Court but was unable to apply the finishing touches, eventually going down 7-6 (6) 6-4 after exactly two hours.
The first set alone took 74 minutes, with Raducanu saving seven set points and creating one of her own, while she led 4-1 in the second before Sabalenka recovered to set up a fourth-round clash with Elise Mertens.
Raducanu will now drop to British number three behind Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal, who is the last home woman left in singles, but that will not be the case for long if she can maintain this level.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Sabalenka ousts former doubles partner Mertens to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals
Tennis players often say it's hard to play against a friend, the killer instinct never quite as easy to call on as it might be against someone else. Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, has rarely had that problem but she was pushed hard by her former doubles partner Elise Mertens before winning through 6-4, 7-6 (4) to reach the quarter-finals. Mertens had won just two sets in their past nine matches but played as good a match as she has ever done at Wimbledon and still came out on the wrong side. Sabalenka, the top seed, hit 36 winners and made just 18 unforced errors, coming from 3-1 down in the second set to set up a quarter-final against Laura Siegemund of Germany. 'It's tough to play against someone you know quite close,' Sabalenka said. 'She's a great player, great person. It's tricky facing her. I know how smart she is, I know she's going to fight til the very end and she will be trying to find something. She really challenged me today, I'm super happy with the win.' This is the only grand slam event in which Sabalenka has yet to make the final but the Belarusian said her belief was growing. 'I always dreamed of winning it. Every time on this court, I'm trying to give my best tennis, trying to fight for every point and really hope for the best.' Challenged by Emma Raducanu in the previous round, Sabalenka broke in the fourth game on her way to a 4-1 lead. But Mertens, returning sharply and using her forehand slice when out of position to make life awkward for Sabalenka, hit back and levelled at 4-4. But every time it seems as if Sabalenka is on the back foot, she takes back control. A good hold of serve put her in front again and she ripped a backhand winner to take the set. Mertens continued to play with poise, mixing nice touch with crisp groundstrokes and good serving and the Belgian claimed a 3-1 lead in the second set. Again, Sabalenka dug deep, breaking back for 3-3 and then, after missing a couple of chances to move ahead again, took command of the tie-break to win it 7-4 and take her place in the last eight. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Siegemund reached the quarter-finals here for the first time, following up her win over Madison Keys in the previous round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Solana Sierra, the lucky loser from Argentina who took out Katie Boulter in round two.


The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Sky Sports forced to apologise as Lando Norris swears live on TV moments after emotional British Grand Prix win
SKY SPORTS were forced to apologise live on air after Lando Norris swore following his historic win at the Formula One British Grand Prix. Norris, 25, took the chequered flag at Silverstone for the first time in his career during a tricky and thrilling race. 4 4 The Bristol-born McLaren star capitalised on a ten-second time penalty for team-mate Oscar Piastri after he abruptly stopped under the safety car. That move had seen Max Verstappen briefly overtake the world championship leader before he spun out moments later. But race stewards slapped the Aussie driver with a severe penalty for a safety car infringement. Norris was reduced to tears over the team radio as he roared: 'Wooo, we did it." And back in parc ferme, he struggled to keep his emotions in check during his post-race interview with former F1 world champion and Sky Sports F1 pundit Jenson Button. Asked about his race after taking the lead, Norris said: "Your mind just goes pretty blank. Everything you might think before the race, you forget. "The main thing is just don't f*** it up, that's rule number one. "The last few laps I was just looking into the crowd. I was just trying to take it all in, enjoy the moment, because it might never happen again. "I hope it does. But these are memories that I'll bring with me forever. An incredible achievement." Button swiftly apologised for the swear word, while Norris also added his own apology. Norris might have landed a fine from the FIA earlier in the season, but the governing body climbed down from its harsh stance over driver swearing in interviews and on the team radio. He then extended some praise to his team-mate, who he called "fast the whole way" and thanked his team for the car. Norris said: "In terms of being a stressful race, this is as stressful as you can get. It was a good race for Oscar as well. "I've got to give credit to Oscar, he was fast the whole way. So a round of applause Oscar, because he put up a good fight. "I enjoy those moments together when we're on track, not as much when he's ahead of me as when he's behind, but that's life. "Credit to him and to McLaren, to win at home in front of all the friends and family we have here, it's pretty amazing." Norris shared the podium with Piastri and Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, who scored his first-ever F1 podium after 239 races in the motorsport and a number of near misses. The trio and the winning constructor were presented with trophies made entirely out of LEGO Bricks. In his own post-race interview, Piastri, 24, was visibly fuming about the controversial decision which went against him. He said: "I'm not going to say much. Well done to Nico, I think that's the highlight of the day. I'll leave it there. 4 4 "Apparently you can't brake behind the safety car anymore. I did it for five laps before that. I'm not going to say too much because I'll get myself in trouble. "Thanks to the crowd for a great event. Thanks for sticking through the weather. I still like Silverstone even if I don't like it today." Hulkenberg, 37, cast a far happier figure. The German said: "It has been a long time coming, hasn't it? I always knew we have it in us, I have it in me somewhere. "What a race, coming from virtually last, doing it all over again from last weekend, it's pretty surreal to be honest. "Not sure how it all happened but obviously crazy conditions, mixed conditions. It was a survival fight for a lot of the race. "I think we were just on it, the right calls, the right tyres, the right moment, made no mistakes and yeah, quite incredible." Hulkenberg's podium finish was just ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was hunting for his first Ferrari podium at the track where he holds the record for the most wins (nine). With Hamilton in P4, Verstappen managed to recover to P5 after his late spin under the safety car which had dropped him from P2 to P9. Norris now sits eight points behind Piastri in the drivers' standings.


BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Rain denies Glamorgan Women at Kent
Glamorgan Women were denied a chance to book a place on T20 Tier 2 Finals Day as their game against Kent at Canterbury was washed have four wins from six and are still favourites to qualify along with Middlesex, who beat Sussex the previous day to remain Parfitt won the toss and Glamorgan decided to field rain arrived before the start and kept the players off the remaining two group fixtures for Glamorgan are both double-headers with men's games at Sophia sides face Gloucestershire on Sunday 13 July while the women host Kent on Friday 18 July before the men play Day for the semi-pro counties is at Northampton on Saturday 26 July, with Yorkshire set to win the northern group.