World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka booked her spot in the Wimbledon Round of 16 in dramatic fashion on Friday, besting home hope Emma Raducanu in two gripping sets in a Centre Court nightcap.
Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draws
With the roof closed under darkening skies, reigning US Open champion Sabalenka held off 2021 US Open champion Raducanu 7-6(8), 6-4 in their marquee third-round clash. Sabalenka needed exactly two hours to pull herself into the Wimbledon second week for the third time.
Sabalenka was down a break in each set before narrowly grinding out both. Sabalenka had to save one set point in the first-set tiebreak, and she was a point away from a 5-1 deficit in the second set.
Despite that adversity, the world’s top-ranked player held her nerve to keep her quest for her first Wimbledon title alive. She is by far the highest-seeded player remaining, as all of the other Top 6 seeds have already been eliminated from contention.
Mertens next up: With the win, Sabalenka remains the title favorite, and she will take on someone she knows very well in the Round of 16: No. 24 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium. Mertens ousted No. 14 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine earlier on Monday on No. 1 Court.
Mertens and Sabalenka were a formidable doubles team not too long ago. They paired up to win two hard-court Grand Slam doubles titles (2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open) and both spent time at the WTA Doubles World No. 1 ranking during their partnership.
As their respective singles rankings would predict, Sabalenka has the upper hand over Mertens when they are opponents instead of teammates. Sabalenka has won their last nine meetings and leads the rivalry 10-2 overall (2-0 in 2025).
Match breakdown: Friday night’s first set will be remembered for quite some time as Sabalenka needed 75 minutes to capture the one-set lead following a variety of compelling twists and turns.
Raducanu’s groundstrokes were clicking as she took the early 4-2 advantage, but Sabalenka picked off three straight games to lead 5-4. Sabalenka then had seven set points in a mesmerizing 13-minute game, but Raducanu found some of her finest serves to battle through that tussle and somehow keep the set going.
Spurred on by an excited crowd, with their decibel level enhanced by the closed roof, Raducanu nearly pulled off a first-set steal when she held set point at 6-5 in the tiebreak. A nerveless Sabalenka, though, boldly swatted that away with a drop shot winner. Two points later, Sabalenka punched a volley winner to close out an epic first set.
Raducanu had an even bigger lead in the second set as she raced to 4-1 and had break point for 5-1. But, once again, World No. 1 Sabalenka showed why she is in that position, reeling off the next five games to earn her second victory in two meetings with former Top 10 player Raducanu.
More to come…