Emma Raducanu plays her best tennis to stun Maria Sakkari in Wimbledon 3R, equals best run at SW19
Emma Raducanu booked her spot in the fourth round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships on Friday, beating Maria Sakkari in straight sets. With the win, the Brit has equaled her best run at SW19, when she reached the second week of the 2021 edition.
Raducanu started off as the aggressor on Centre Court against Sakkari, breaking the Greek's serve early for a 3-1 lead. Although Sakkari was close to breaking back in the following games, the former US Open champion held strong to take the set 6-2 with a second break of serve. Notably, Raducanu saved five break points in the opning set.
The second set once again saw Emma Raducanu break early to go 3-1 up. At 5-3*, with Sakkari serving to stay in the match, the 21-year-old was close to breaking again and had her first match point, but could not convert.
Although Sakkari saved the second match point as well, Raducanu got third time lucky, closing out the match 6-2, 6-3 after a little over an hour and 30 minutes. The former US Open champion has now earned the second top 10 win of her career, the first coming last week at Eastbourne against Jessica Pegula.
Emma Raducanu to take on Lulu Sun in Wimbledon fourth round next
Following her win over Maria Sakkari, Emma Raducanu will next take on Lulu Sun in the fourth round of the 2024 Wimbledon Championships. The qualifier from New Zealand took out eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in her opener at SW19 and defeated Zhu Lin in the third round. The duo have never met on tour before and will play against each other for the first time on Sunday.
Raducanu has now reached the second week at a Slam for only the third time, having previously done so at the 2021 edition at Wimbledon and the 2021 US Open. Having started the tournament as the World No. 135, Raducanu is up to No. 92 in the live rankings now after her run to the Round of 16.
Should she reach the quarterfinals, the Brit is likely to face Paula Badosa. In the semifinals, she is likely to come up against second seed Coco Gauff or seventh seed Jasmine Paolini. Meanwhile, top seed Iga Swiatek is still in the running to reach the final from the top half of the draw, followed by fourth seed and former champion Elena Rybakina.