LONDON — In an exhilarating display of tennis, Emma Raducanu delivered one of her most commanding performances since her memorable U.S. Open triumph, defeating 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday. This victory secured her place in the third round of the tournament.
Engaging with a lively Centre Court audience, Raducanu outshone the Czech player in a thrilling contest featuring two unseeded Grand Slam champions. Commenting on her performance, the 2021 Flushing Meadows victor remarked, “That was one of the best matches I’ve played in a long time.” She was particularly pleased with one exceptional moment, “I turned one point around that I think is probably the best point I’ve ever played, so that was pretty crazy. I think the crowd were loving it.”
Raducanu’s upcoming challenge is even more formidable as she prepares to face the tournament’s highest remaining seed, No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka. With four out of the top five seeds already eliminated, the pressure seems off her shoulders. “Yeah, I guess there’s no pressure at all on me the next round,” she joked during an on-court interview.
Competing at Wimbledon always invites expectations for Raducanu, following her unprecedented win as the first British woman since 1977 to clinch a Grand Slam title by capturing the U.S. Open as a qualifier. Although injury setbacks and fluctuating form affected her career afterward, her fourth-round presence at Wimbledon last year marked her strongest major performance since.
Her recent triumph over Vondrousova, a 2019 French Open finalist, suggests Raducanu is regaining her peak form. “She was playing amazing tennis,” Vondrousova acknowledged. “She was crushing me in the rallies, so there wasn’t much I could do.”
Raducanu herself appeared quite pleased with her showing. “I think today I played really, really well,” she reflected. “I knew today I had to be aggressive because Marketa would beat me if I was going to push the ball around.”