Teenage sensations light up Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon fairytale continued with a history-making victory over world number 45 Sorana Cirstea on Court One that sent her into the last 16 on Saturday.

The 18-year-old has quickly become the story of the Championships, having only played one WTA Tour level match before this tournament, but she showed she belongs on the big stage with a 6-3 7-5 victory.

Raducanu, who is waiting for her A-Level results, passed this particular test in fine style, with a run of eight successive games laying the foundations of a memorable afternoon.

As well as a sparkling attacking display, where she hit 30 winners, she also showed fighting spirit and tenacity in the second set, claiming the win on her third match point.

She becomes the youngest British woman into the fourth round of SW19 in the open era and surely a Centre Court date with Ajla Tomljanovic on Monday awaits.
There is no way Raducanu would have thought her first week at Wimbledon would have ended by opening Court One on the middle Saturday.

But that was her reward for impressive wins over Vitalia Diatchenko and Marketa Vondrousova in the opening two rounds and she did not look out of place on the show court.

She said in her on-court interview: “Honestly, I am so speechless right now, at the end I didn’t know what my reaction would be if I won and that just happened, I am so so grateful for all the support I had today.

“Who would have thought, it is funny because at the start when I was packing to come into the bubble, my parents were like, ‘Aren’t you packing too many sets of match kit?’.
“I think I am going to have to do some laundry tonight, but I think they have a laundry service at the hotel, so I am all good.”

Seventeen-year-old American Coco Gauff meanwhile matched her dream Wimbledon debut as she again reached the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Kaja Juvan.
Gauff, the 23rd seed, stormed through the opening games with a barrage of power serves on Centre Court but was asked some awkward questions by 102nd-ranked Juvan.

As she often does, Gauff had all the answers as she reached the second week and a last-16 clash with Germany’s former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber.
When Gauff reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old qualifier in 2019, it was something of a sensation.

Two years later, despite her age and playing in only her seventh Grand Slam tournament, Gauff’s progress is far less of a surprise and she is now a serious title contender.

After winning the opening set she then established a lead in the second. Although Slovenian Juvan fought tenaciously, she could not knock Gauff out of her stride.
In the men’s draw, Nick Kyrgios had to retire from his third-round match against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime through injury.

The Australian, who has delighted the crowds with both his antics and his tennis this week, was one set all with Auger-Aliassime when he succumbed to an abdominal injury.