Aryna Sabalenka, the sole survivor among the top six women's seeds, ended British interest in the women's singles, edging past inspired home favourite Emma Raducanu.
Aryna Sabalenka looked shaken and stirred on Friday as it appeared she would become the most high-profile name to join the mass exodus of Wimbledon seeds before her survival instincts kicked in to secure a 7-6(6), 6-4 third-round win over Emma Raducanu.
Wimbledon fans are no strangers to floodlit blockbusters featuring British home favourites, with Andy Murray providing plenty of late-night thrills under a closed Centre Court roof during his stellar career.
On Friday, after being kept waiting till 8 pm local time (1900 GMT) to take centrestage, it was Raducanu's turn to provide the drama as she played some electrifying tennis to surge into a 4-2 lead in the first set and was again up 4-1 in the second.
Unfortunately for Raducanu, getting over the finishing line proved a step too far.
"She played such incredible tennis and she pushed me really hard. To get this win, I had to fight for every point like crazy," the world number one told the crowd after improving her record over British opponents to 9-0.
"She was making me move a lot, serving well and playing great tennis from the baseline. I was just trying to stay focused and put as many balls as I could on her side. I just tried to put all of the pressure on her."
The 22-year-old Raducanu kept the Belarusian guessing with her breathtaking shot-making that earned her a break in the fifth game to the delight of the 15,000-strong crowd who roared on every Raducanu winner and cheered on every Sabalenka error.
Although Sabalenka, the sole survivor among the top six women's seeds, gained back the break, she was left shell-shocked when she missed seven set, and break, points at 5-4 on Raducanu's serve, with the Briton serving her way out of trouble.
At the eighth time of asking, in the tiebreak, Sabalenka finally silenced the crowd when she produced a stop volley to bag the set, her achievement being greeted by only a smattering of applause.
Raducanu, who has spent a long time in the tennis wilderness following her mind-boggling win at the US Open in 2021 as a qualifier, wanted to prove that she was back to her best by following up her win over 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova with victory over Sabalenka.
When she surged into a 4-1 lead in the second, and even had a break point to take a 5-1 lead, it seemed that she had it in her grasp to drag the contest into a deciding set.
But just as the spectators on Centre Court, and the thousands more cheering on from a heaving Henman Hill, started believing that Raducanu had the momentum, and the weapons, to pull off an improbable win against an opponent who has contested the last three Grand Slam finals, reality struck.
Sabalenka turned on the power to win the last five games to extinguish Raducanu's hopes of reaching the fourth round for the third time, with the Briton netting a service return on match-point.
"What an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting, honestly. It was super loud! Every time you were cheering her, I was trying to tell myself to just pretend that you were just cheering for me. I had goosebumps honestly, so thank you for the atmosphere," said the top seed, who will next face Belgium's Elise Mertens.
Siegemund upsets Madison Keys
There were to be no Fourth of July celebrations for American Madison Keys as she joined the exodus of seeds from Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat by 104th-ranked German Laura Siegemund in the third round.
The sixth seed looked a far cry from the player who won her maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, racking up unforced errors - 31 in total - and wayward serves on a sun-drenched Court Two.
The match will not live long in the memory for those in attendance, save for 37-year-old Siegemund who, after a trade of breaks early in the first set, went 4-2 up on Keys' serve with a cute dropshot. From there, the German saw out the first set.
Keys broke in the first game of the second set with a whipped forehand crosscourt winner and roared "come on!" as she geed herself up to get back into contention.
It did not work as Siegemund broke straight back and yet another unforced error from Keys handed a second break to the German.
Serving to stay in the match, Keys double faulted for the fourth time, which summed up her afternoon as the Americans in the crowd became unusually reserved. She saved three match points but could not stop Siegemund serving out the win.
The German, now the oldest player left in the women's singles draw, jumped with glee upon sealing victory and will play her first ever Wimbledon fourth round against Argentine lucky loser Solana Sierra.
"I only play for myself, I don't feel like I need to prove anything anymore... It's important to remember the core of why you are doing this... I'm playing for me and I don't feel pressure this way," Siegemund said on court.
Pavlyuchenkova spoils Osaka's return party
No seeding these days, no problem -- at least early on. Naomi Osaka, back at Wimbledon without the trappings of a top-ranked player, looked every bit the Grand Slam great for a set on Friday. But the old rhythm ebbed away, and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova stormed back to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
It's been more than four years since Osaka last lifted a major -- the 2021 Australian Open -- a stretch shaped by introspection, a battle with depression, and the birth of her child. And for a while on a sun-drenched Court Two, she summoned her vintage self — painting lines, pummelling serves, playing with purpose in this third round clash.
But after dropping the second set, the momentum slowly slipped through her fingers. A double fault handed Pavlyuchenkova a 2-0 lead in the decider, and Osaka, despite flashes of brilliance, never fully recovered.
The errors began to creep in, the confidence to ebb, and the comeback trail was quietly closed off.
No fourth-round debut this year — just a glimpse of what once was.
Anisimova vows to hit practice courts
American Amanda Anisimova became the first American through to the last-16 with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 defeat of Hungary's Dalma Galfi.
Not that the 13th seed was too impressed by her Independence Day display on a sunny Court Three.
"It was an incredibly tough match but I kept fighting," the 23-year-old, one of five American women to reach the third round, said on court. "I think the quality wasn't that great today but I will hit the practice courts tomorrow."
Anisimova, a quarterfinalist in 2022, secured the decisive break of serve in the first set with a stunning lob to lead 5-3.
She had chances near the end of the second set too but was pegged back as 110th-ranked Galfi dug deep to break serve at 5-6 and set up a decider.
Anisimova let out a big scream as she broke serve early in the third set with a wrong-footing forehand and an even louder one when she saved a break point when leading 3-2.
Another break of serve put Anisimova in complete control but at 5-2 she double-faulted on break point down to give Galfi hope. But it did not prove costly for the American who sealed the win a game later to move through.
Lucky loser Sierra's fairytale continues
Solana Sierra continued to make the most of her good fortune at Wimbledon as the Argentine became the first lucky loser to move into the fourth round of the grasscourt Grand Slam since tennis turned professional in 1968.
The 21-year-old squandered a match point and crashed in the final round of qualifying to Australia's Talia Gibson, but went into the main draw at the very last moment when Belgium's Greet Minnen pulled out and she has not looked back since.
After seeing off Australia's Olivia Gadecki and stunning local favourite Katie Boulter, she came through a challenging test against Spain's Cristina Bucsa to win 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 and dropped to the ground in celebration.
Sierra, who looked at her team in disbelief for several moments as she sat on the turf after match point, will pick up a cheque worth at least 240,000 pounds ($327,336) for her surprise run.
She meets Laura Siegemund or Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the next round.
Kartal claims biggest win of her life
Britain's Sonay Kartal surged into the fourth round for the first time on Friday with a remarkable turnaround performance against French qualifier Diane Parry as she won nine games in a row to come from 4-1 down to triumph 6-4, 6-2.
Parry, who hammered 12th seed Diana Shnaider in the last round, was in control early on but the Briton eventually got to grips with the challenge and, roared on by a partisan Number One court crowd, began an unstoppable comeback that secured the first set and put her 4-0 up in the second.
Parry’s spirit seemed to have disappeared along with her accuracy and the 23-year-old battling Briton took full advantage with a relentless forehand fusillade to claim the biggest victory of her injury-hit career.
"I think everyone saw that I started off pretty nervous – it’s definitely the biggest and most meaningful stage that I've played on," Kartal said.
"I've got a lot of people here and I really wanted to do them proud and do myself proud."
When Kartal upset 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round on Monday it launched a great day for Britain with an Open Era record seven players advancing, and another three on Tuesday.
Four days later only her and Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie remain, and the former US Open champion and regular junior rival of Kartal's faces a huge challenge to also progress to the fourth when she faces world number one Aryna Sabalenka later.
© 2025