Emma Raducanu is set to battle Aryna Sabalenka for her third round match at Wimbledon. As the Brit gears up to take on the World No.1, she recently revealed how she's finding inspiration in men's singles top seed Jannik Sinner.
Raducanu has had a strong run on home ground so far. The 22-year-oldās opening round matches have seen her beat compatriot Mingge Xu and 2023 champion MarkĆ©ta VondrouÅ”ovĆ” in straight sets. On the other hand, Sabalenka has been equally impressive, disposing of Carson Branstine and Marie Bouzkova.
As Emma Raducanu prepares to face off against the Belarusian, she and her coach Mark Petchey recently sat in on men's singles World No.1 Jannik Sinner's practice session. The Brit later revealed that she's trying to pick up some new skills ahead of her clash with Sabalenka, telling Independent.co,
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āIām trying to learn by osmosis. He (Sinner) is so effortless when he hits the ball.ā
For his part, Sinner's run in Wimbledon has seen him get the better of Luka Nardi and Aleksander Vukic with ease.
Emma Raducanu reflects on facing Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon
Over the course of her career, Emma Raducanu has consistently delivered strong performances on home ground at Wimbledon. She's played the Grand Slam twice before, once in 2021 and then in 2024, and has reached the fourth round of the event each time.
Now, standing between her and a third-consecutive fourth round appearance at Wimbledon is Aryna Sabalenka. As the Brit gears up to fight the World No.1, she revealed that she hopes to be the right amount of aggressive in her game play, saying at a press conference,
"I definitely think playing Aryna, she's No. 1 in the world for a reason. You can't really do nothing or give nothing balls to her. I'm going to have to be aggressive but pick my moments and not be overly [aggressive]. I think you can fall into that trap, too. I don't think I'm going to go out there and out-power her, like size-wise and power-wise. I think I'm going to have to try and be creative as well.ā
Raducanu went on to acknowledge the massive task in front of her, while showing enthusiasm to play against the best of the best.
āI know it's going to be a massive challenge. I'm going to have to play some really good tennis. You want to play the best. You are going to have to play them at some point if you want to win one of these tournaments. Even though it's early in the tournament, I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
Emma Raducanu and Aryna Sabalenka have played each other once before. In 2024, the duo faced off against each other at Indian Wells, where the latter was able to eke out a 6-3, 7-5 victory.
