A fired-up Emma Raducanu continued her strong start at Wimbledon as she dominated Elise Mertens in straight sets to reach the third round at the All England Club.
The 2021 US Open champion offered No 1 Court spectators a rounded display of crisp hitting from the baseline, controlled aggression at the net and impressive court coverage to dispatch Mertens 6-1 6-2 in just one hour and 15 minutes.
She will now face either Arantxa Rus or ninth seed Maria Sakkari for a place in the fourth round, the stage at which she was forced to retire during her match on debut against Ajla Tomljanovic back in 2021.
Raducanu returned to grass for the first time in two years this summer following ankle and wrist surgeries, and admitted this week she has fallen back in love with the game of tennis. As much was evident during an inspired performance to nod towards a deep run in front of her home fans.
“It [crowd support] makes me feel unbelievable. I feel so welcome here. Honestly, Court One is my favourite court!” said Raducanu.
“I think I played some really good tennis. I’m really pleased. I’m over the moon to be playing here and just to extend my stay for one more day.
“I’m so grateful for the support. With the roof closed, it was super loud. I’m so grateful for everyone making a lot of noise.
“The most important thing is just concentrating on myself. I did that and took care of business. Sticking in my zone is the most important.
“I think I’m playing really well. I’m happy with the improvements I’ve made. I’m just so happy I’m able to reap some of the rewards here in Wimbledon.”
It was announced Wednesday that Raducanu will play alongside Andy Murray in the mixed doubles
The Briton set the tone for the match immediately when she broke Mertens at the third time of asking in the second game after leaving her opponent scrambling with a delicate drop shot.
Mertens then failed to convert a break point of her own in reply as Raducanu delivered an unreturnable serve to open up a three-game cushion.
The double break arrived shortly after courtesy of a stunning cross-court winner, Mertens eventually getting on the board two games later, only for Raducanu to wrap things up on serve.
Four break points came and went for Raducanu in the opening game of the second set, the 21-year-old making no mistake minutes later as a glorious passing backhand toppled the Mertens serve to give her early daylight.
Her supremacy continued to show as a gorgeous backhand volley teed up a 30-0 advantage, followed by a backhand winner down the line and an ace to seal the hold to love for 3-1.
Then came an expertly-weighted drop-shot slice for 4-1, by which point the damage had been done as she marched on to close out a composed deciding service game.
Raducanu hit 22 winners to her opponent’s 14, while giving up just 14 unforced errors to Mertens’ 21 and winning 75 per cent of first-serve points in contrast to the Belgian’s 52 per cent.
On Monday she had joked of “winning ugly” in similar fashion to England’s victory over Slovakia at Euro 2024; there was little ugly about this as she reminded the Wimbledon fans of her talents, if they needed a reminder.
Sonay Kartal set up a plum tie with Coco Gauff at Wimbledon
Kartal tees up Gauff clash
Sonay Kartal weathered a second-set wobble to storm into the Wimbledon third round for the first time and set up a plum tie with Coco Gauff after she beat Clara Burel 6-3 5-7 6-3.
Kartal had to qualify for this year’s Championships after she had battled with undisclosed health problems for much of the past year, but she put those issues to one side to produce an excellent career-best victory against 29th seed Sorana Cirstea on Monday.
It set up a showdown with world No 45 Burel and Kartal recovered from losing a 3-0 lead in set two to edge the decider and become the first home player through to the last 32 at the All England Club.
The British No 9 was back on Court Three a year after her straight-sets defeat to Madison Keys, when she only won three games.
Rain initially halted her shot at redemption with a two-hour delay followed by another intermittent shower after seven minutes of action.
Kartal had to save break points in each of her first two service games once play resumed and they proved crucial as the 22-year-old seized upon a string of double faults by Burel to break and move 4-2 up.
Burel arrived in London after four consecutive first-round exits and struggled to outlast Kartal in several lengthy rallies before the world No 298 clinched the opener with a trademark forehand winner.
Kartal, who was Raducanu’s big rival as a junior, claimed another break at the start of the next set before a second followed with Burel seeming out of sorts.
The biggest threat to the Briton appeared the weather with more drizzle in the air, but as the sun pierced through the clouds, Burel started to swing freely and land her shots.
A break back was secured before a sumptuous volley from the French player got the score back to 4-4 and, while Kartal showed heart to save four set points, a decider was required.
The third set stayed on serve until a decisive fifth game, which went the way of the Brighton right-hander after another booming forehand clipped the net cord and landed on Burel’s side.
Kartal would not be denied this time and pencilled in a clash with US Open champion Gauff with a deft volley at the net to earn a standing ovation as the first female British qualifier to make round three since 1997.
“Today is a really special day for me,” Kartal said. “Monday was a high but I’ve topped that today.”
Gauff had earlier breezed through with a 6-2 6-1 victory over Anca Todoni on No 1 Court.
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