Another Wimbledon women's seed, Madison Keys, is sent packing, while No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka moves on
'At times, it wasn't the best quality, let's say. But I managed, and in the end, it's just important to find solutions and I did that well. Kept my nerves in the end,' Siegemund said, then added with a laugh: 'There are always nerves. If you don't have nerves in this moment, you're probably dead.'
Wimbledon might be the only Grand Slam event where Keys hasn't reached at least the semifinals, but she has participated in the quarterfinals there twice and is enjoying a breakthrough 2025, including her title at Melbourne Park in January.
Keys' power vs. Siegemund's spins and slices offered quite a contrast in styles, and this outcome was surprisingly one-way traffic on a windy afternoon at No. 2 Court. The key statistic, undoubtedly, was this: Keys made 31 unforced errors, 20 more than Siegemund.
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When it ended with one last backhand return from Keys that sailed wide, Siegemund smiled broadly, raised her arms and jumped up and down repeatedly.
'You can't not be happy when you beat a great player like Madison,' Siegemund said.
How unexpected is this for Siegemund? Before this year, her career record at the All England Club was 2-5, and she'd never made it past the second round. Taking into account all four Grand Slam tournaments, she had reached the third round only once in 28 previous appearances, getting to the quarterfinals at the 2020 French Open.
'There is technically no pressure for me,' said Siegemund, at 37 the oldest woman remaining in the tournament. 'I try to remember that I only play for myself. I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore. My boyfriend often tells me that.'
On Sunday, the German faces another participant no one could have predicted would be at this stage of the grass-court major: 101st-ranked Solana Sierra of Argentina, who lost in qualifying and made it into the main draw when another player withdrew.
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was too strong a foe for Britain's Emma Raducanu, despite the backing of the Centre Court crowd Friday night.
HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images
As for the women's top seed, Sabalenka fought back in both sets against the crowd favorite Raducanu, who had been playing some of her best tennis since her title run at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier at age 18.
The fans provided extra energy for the British player, cheering wildly when Raducanu fired winners and exhaling 'aww!' when she missed.
Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said she pretended the cheers were for her.
'Guys wow — what an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting. It was super loud,' she said in an on-court interview.
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In the second set, Raducanu broke to 3-1 and led 4-1 at the 1-hour, 35-minute mark, but Sabalenka reeled off the last five games.
'She pushed me really hard to get this win. I'm happy to see her healthy and back on track,' Sabalenka said of her foe. 'I'm pretty sure that soon she's going to be back in the top 10.'
Elsewhere Friday, Ben Shelton played for all of four points and about a minute, wrapping up his second-round match against Rinky Hijikata that was suspended Thursday night. Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round by beating Jan-Lennard Struff in four sets.
Other men's seeds advancing were No. 5 Taylor Fritz, No. 14 Andrey Rublev, and No. 17 Karen Khachanov.
In the women's draw, four-time major title winner Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon ended in the third round for the third time, eliminated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. No. 13 Amanda Anisimova of the US advanced to the fourth round, as did No. 24 Elise Mertens and No. 30 Linda Noskova.
On Saturday's carrd, five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek will take on Danielle Collins at Centre Court — who could forget their testy exchange at the Paris Olympics? — while No. 1 Jannik Sinner and 24-time major champ Novak Djokovic also are involved in matches at the main stadium. Two American women will be in action at No. 1 Court: Hailey Baptiste faces No. 7 Mirra Andreeva of Russia, and No. 10 Emma Navarro plays defending champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic.
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