Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - July 3, 2024 Britain's Emma Raducanu reacts during her second round match against Belgium's Elise Mertens REUTERS/Matthew Childs
LONDON (Reuters) -Emma Raducanu powered her way into the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday with a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory against Belgian Elise Mertens.
Raducanu has struggled for fitness since her stunning U.S. Open triumph in 2021 but looked at the top of her game as she pummelled Mertens into submission from the baseline, shouting and fist-pumping almost every point won.
The British wildcard raced into a 5-0 lead against the 28-year-old under the closed roof of Court One which was packed with a passionate home crowd.
Mertens did get on the scoreboard to avoid a bagel, but that was the only positive for her as Raducanu clinched the first set.
The Briton then broke in the third game of the second set with a brilliant backhand across court and broke again to go 4-1 up.
Mertens, ranked 33 in the world, held to love in the next game but could not stop Raducanu bringing up two match points with an ace and then winning the first of them after the Belgian went long.
It's the first time Raducanu has reached a third round of a Grand Slam since her title win at Flushing Meadows and raises tentative hopes of a first British women's singles triumph at Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977.
"I think I’m playing really good tennis. I’m really happy with the improvements I’ve made," Raducanu said on court. "I knew all the hard yards and hard work I was doing this year would lead to something. I’m just so happy I’m able to reap some of the rewards here at Wimbledon."
She will play ninth seed Maria Sakkari on Friday in the third round. Raducanu beat the Greek in the semi-finals en route to her U.S. Open win, when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam in the Open era.
"(The) circumstances are different. Like, in a third round compared to a semi-final," Raducanu told a press conference. "At the time the dynamics were also different. I was an unknown player pretty much.
"I'm expecting a really tough match. She's... in the world... top 10 or something. It's going to be a really difficult one."
(Reporting by Christian Radnedge; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
