World No. 9 Maria Sakkari acknowledges that Emma Raducanu is playing great and that the Briton will probably be the favorite in their Wimbledon match but the Greek also took a moment to remind the 21-year-old that she will be “playing a top-10” player on Friday.
After struggling heavily with her results in the last couple of Grand Slams and exiting them early due to some kind of a mental blockage, former world No. 3 Sakkari has made a nice start to Wimbledon after beating McCartney Kessler 6-3 6-1 and Arantxa Rus 7-5 6-3. And now in what will be Sakkari’s first third-round appearance at a Slam since the 2023 Australian Open, the Greek tennis star will be taking on home favorite Raducanu.
While Sakkari finally finding some momentum in a Slam is encouraging for the Greek, the fact that Raducanu is in great form and coming off one of the best wins of her career is not good news for the world No. 9. After reaching the Nottingham semifinal at the start of the grass season and beating world No. 5 Jessica Pegula in Eastbourne, Raducanu also defeated Renata Zarazua in straight sets in her Wimbledon opener before destroying former world No. 12 Elise Mertens 6-1 6-2.
Raducanu’s latest results and her win over Mertens have led to a big hype being created about the…
