2 months ago
22
Emma Raducanu's Wimbledon dream is over for another year - but only after a fearless battle with No 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Raducanu had coarsed into the third round after beating Mimi Xu and Marketa Vondrousova without dropping a set, but met her match in Sabalenka.
The Belarusian snatched the first set 7-6 as she won the tiebreak 8-6 and then produced a comeback in the second set to win that 6-4.
Raducanu had established a commanding 4-1 lead in the second set before Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, won five games without reply.
In Sabalenka's final service game, Raducanu tried to battle back from 40-0 down, but could only get as far as 40-30 before she returned a shot into the net.
Sabalenka said: 'She played such incredible tennis and pushed me really hard. I fought for every point like crazy. I'm happy to see her healthy and back on track. I'm sure she will soon be back in the top 10.
More to follow.
'She was making me move a lot, serving well, from the baseline she was playing great tennis.'
Raducanu had come into the match with hopes of causing an upset after the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth seeds had already been knocked out of the tournament.
And she almost took the lead in the match when she was serving for the first set at 6-5 in the tiebreak.
But Sabalenka gave as good as she got and clinched the first set, which lasted 74 minutes, with a neat drop volley.
Raducanu came flying out of the blocks in the second set, holding her first serve to 15 before dropping a game to her opponent.
Then came a run of three game wins back-to-back for the British No 1, with Raducanu's attack-minded, aggressive play paying dividends.
But the 22-year-old could not keep up the momentum and Sabalenka clawed her back to the victory via two breaks and three holds of serve.
More to follow.
