“It does give me confidence”: Emma Raducanu reflects on defeat to Aryna Sabalenka after a thrilling contest at Wimbledon

Britain’s Emma Raducanu has expressed pride in her performance against world number one Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon. The 22-year-old suffered a defeat in the third round of the third Grand Slam in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-4. In the first set, Raducanu managed to save seven set points and hold her serve in the 12th game, forcing it to be decided in a tiebreak.

It was Raducanu’s 13th defeat in 29 matches this year, and for the fourth consecutive time, she failed to get past the fourth round at Wimbledon. Despite all of that, Raducanu stated that she was proud of her performance on the day against the world's best player. Raducanu was of the opinion that her performance against Sabalenka gave her ‘confidence’ in the future.

“I think it’s difficult to see that right now, having just come off,” she said. “It’s hard to take a loss like that. At the same time, I’m playing Aryna who’s number one in the world and a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort today. It does give me confidence. I think the problem before was I felt like I was gulfs away from the very top. Having a match like that where I had chances in both sets does give me confidence. At the same time, it’s very difficult to take right now.”

On the other hand, Sabalenka was also full of praise for Raducanu and predicted that the 22-year-old will return amongst the best in the world if she continues to perform like she has in the recent past. “I can’t predict anything,” said Sabalenka. “But I’m definitely sure that, maybe not in the months, but in a bit longer period, she’s definitely going to get back in the top. She’s fighting. She’s playing much better. She’s more consistent. I can see that mentally she’s healthy. That’s really important. I’m pretty sure she’s getting there.”