Under the Centre Court lights at Wimbledon on Friday, an intense clash unfolded between world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and British fan favorite Emma Raducanu. Both are Grand Slam champions, and the match proved to be a spectacle for their fans.
Eventually, Sabalenka outlasted Raducanu 7‑6(6), 6‑4, but not before hooking several tennis stars and former players to their match. The likes of Nick Kyrgios, who’s not playing due to injury, and legend of the sport, Boris Becker, had a watchful eye on the match.
The tennis world shared their views on the match on X (formerly Twitter). Six-time Majors champion Rennae Stubbs wrote:
“The emotional calmness of Aryna today is literally the reason she won the first set and now staying in this 2nd set. Emma playing really good tennis at the moment.”
Trending
Nick Kyrgios also hailed the match as one of the best so far in the tournament.
"Incredible effort by Sabalenka :eyes: what a competitor :zap: props to Raducanu, one of the best matches of the championships," the Australian commented.
Becker also had the same views as Kyrgios about the clash between Sabalenka and Raducanu.
"Absolutely! Great match from Emma ( we wanna see more consistently ) but congratulations to Saby for the victory! @SabalenkaA @EmmaRaducanu @Wimbledon," he wrote.
One fan took a jibe at Roland Garros while saying:
"this Raducanu Sabalenka entertaining night match would’ve been scheduled at 9am on Chatrier if this was Roland Garros btw 💀"
Aryna Sabalenka will face 24th seed Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 of Wimbledon.
Aryna Sabalenka speaks highly of Emma Raducanu after intense game
Emma Raducanu tested every bit of Aryna Sabalenka during the match. The British tennis star soared to a 4-2 lead in the opening set, but Sabalenka saved a staggering seven set points before eventually taking the set in a tie-breaker.
Even in the second set, Raducanu surged to a 4-1 lead before Sabalenka came back, winning five straight games to win the match.
After the match, Aryna Sabalenka was all praises for the British star for pushing her to the limit with the latter's performance.
"Wow! What an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting. It was super loud! Every time you were cheering her, I was trying to tell myself to just pretend that you were just cheering for me. I had goosebumps," Sabalenka said.
"She played such incredible tennis and she pushed me really hard. To get this win, I had to fight for every point like crazy."
Raducanu was left hurt by the loss but took pride in how she played.
"It's hard to take a loss like that. At the same time ... I'm really going to remember that match because, you play for those moments, to really be competing toe-to-toe with the very best," Raducanu said.
"I'm really grateful for all the support ... it was electric. They were really behind me. Just disappointed I couldn't get over the line."
With the win in the third round, Aryna Sabalenka improved her H2H with Raducanu to 2-0, while advancing further in the Grand Slam.
