PREVIEW Wimbledon ATP & WTA Day Three: Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz take Centre Stage
ATP
The stage is set to begin the second round at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships with Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu among those taking Centre Stage on Wednesday 2 July. The schedule is set and our preview takes you through the leading talking points.
Sabalenka will kick off proceedings on Wednesday. She faces off as top seed against Marie Bouzkova. The Czech has a win over the Belarusian last year winning in the semi-finals of Washington. She then lost to Paula Badosa in the final.
But all of their meetings in their 2-1 Head-to-Head have all been on hard courts. Sabalenka is still a bit of an unknown quantity on grass as of late barely playing in recent years and albeit she saw off Carson Branstine, the Canadian-American Hollywood model/tennis star in the first round. She was expected to widely.
So while she will be expected to win the tie against Bouzkova, the Czech is known as a bit of a spoiler always and so especially early on could cause a shock.
Oliver Tarvet on the other hand won't be expected as such to cause such a shock. The NCAA British tennis star has received a lot of stories in the lead-up to the tournament and during it about him not being able to collect his £99k prize money due to the rules surrounding keeping earnings.
But Leandro Riedl is completely different to Carlos Alcaraz who perhaps has it easier than Fabio Fognini in the opening foray. Back then the Italian pushed him widely to the limit. Albeit Alcaraz will expect to get into his rhythm a bit more against a player battling not only the defending champion but the weight of occasion.
Raducanu faces former champion
Speaking of occasion, Emma Raducanu has been widely publicised in the press in the lead up to this tournament as the leader of the Brit charge. This is despite Jack Draper being the World No.4 in the men's game and a bonafide threat for the title especially given the amount of big names falling.
Raducanu will dominate the narrative again in the second round as she will face off against Marketa Vondrousova in what will be a marked different test to Mimi Xu. A former winner in London, she has returned to form just this month.
She won Berlin after being out for most of the season and has catapulted herself into the 'unseeded player you don't want mould'. Raducanu won't want her either and it is the former champion v top British star that the tournament will certainly lap up. A real acid test for Raducanu against the Czech.
In terms of Head-to-Head, Vondrousova leads the way 2-1 having previously won this year even. She sealed a triumph against the Brit in Abu Dhabi 6-3, 6-4.
This of course on a surface where she hasn't really ever figured that well in comparison to grass and clay so she will be the marginal favourite overall for the tie against Raducanu.
Especially as a former champion who has mastered this surface previously in the final two years ago and is showing some semblance of being back towards her best for now. Touchwood without injuries.
Head-to-Head
| Player 1 | Player 2 |
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Fritz, Boulter and Norrie play on Court One
It is a bit of a Brit bonanza on Court One as both Katie Boulter who played on Centre Court to open the tournament and Cameron Norrie propel their hopes onto the second show court.
Boulter unsurprisingly isn't on Centre compared to facing Paula Badosa. She takes on lucky loser Solana Sierra. While Norrie will face a real popcorn clash with American entertainer, Frances Tiafoe.
A tad easier for Katie Boulter in match two.
Speaking of entertainment, Taylor Fritz will return for his third match technically in days as he had to win in the final set on Tuesday and now has to return to face Gabriel Diallo on Wednesday. Diallo won a title earlier in the grass court season and is one of the only title winners remaining in the reckoning from the past few months.
Elsewhere Madison Keys faces Olga Danilovic in a real top tie to watch. Naomi Osaka faces Katerina Siniakova, the conqueror of Zheng Qinwen while Arthur Fery gets his big shot against Luciano Darderi on Court Two.
Speaking of Brits, Sonay Kartal also continues her run in facing Viktoriya Tomova. Jasmine Paolini is also involved against Kamilla Rakhimova.
Schedule Day Three Wimbledon
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Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.
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