Wimbledon 2024: Coco Gauff and Emma Raducanu advance to fourth round with resounding wins

Second seed Coco Gauff ended the surprise run of British qualifier Sonay Kartal as the American marched into the fourth round of Wimbledon with a 6-4 6-0 victory on Friday. Gauff was pushed hard by a player who began the week ranked 298th in the world, but once she banked the opening set the outcome of the match was never in doubt.

"I thought I played really well and she was playing a high level especially in the first set," U.S. Open champion Gauff said on Court One under the closed roof. "She wasn't giving me much to work with and not letting me settle. I felt like I was going for the right shots but was just missing, but eventually I found it."

Gauff reached the fourth round as a qualifier in 2019 when she was 15 and also got to that stage in 2021 but has never progressed to the quarter-finals.

Standing in the way now is 19th-seeded American Emma Navarro who beat Diana Shnaider on Friday.

For 22-year-old Kartal, one of three Britons along with Emma Raducanu and Harriet Dart to reach the third round, it proved to be an unforgettable week.

As she heads off to get a tattoo so that she can have a permanent reminder of her 2024 Wimbledon adventure, Kartal will also be holding onto the memory of the roaring support she received from the Court One crowd.

"It was unbelievable. From walking out to walking off. They were behind me after every single point. I think it's something that is truly special," said Kartel, who suffered an undisclosed serious health issue at the start of 2024.

"It meant a lot to me today to have them backing me after every point. That feeling of them in my ear when I was walking off, that moment is going to stick around a long time for me."

Raducanu advances

When Emma Raducanu nonchalantly flicked a lob that appeared to be drifting long before it dropped inches inside the baseline to earn her a break and a hollering ovation from the Wimbledon crowd, Maria Sakkari must have known this was not going to be her day.

So, it proved to be as Britain's only female singles Grand Slam champion in 47 years was roared on to a 6-2 6-3 third round victory over the Greek ninth seed under a closed Centre Court roof on a soggy Friday.

Raducanu, who needed a wildcard invite from organisers to even compete at the grasscourt major as her ranking has plummeted to 135th after an injury plagued 2023, had beaten Sakkari the only previous time they had met - at the 2021 U.S. Open semi-finals.

Demonstrating a steely resolve and showing flashes of the brilliance that unexpectedly carried her to the 2021 Flushing Meadows title, Raducanu once again made a mockery of her ranking difference with a show-stopping performance and sealed victory after Sakkari whipped a forehand wide.

After two years of pain and very little gain, Raducanu is once again enjoying a joyous run of form as she has reached the last 16 without dropping a set and Sakkari's exit has opened up her quarter of the draw, which no longer features a seed.

"Today was really up there with the most fun I have had on a tennis court, I really enjoyed every single moment," Raducanu, flashing a megawatt smile, told the crowd.

That desire to do well at Wimbledon has been burning inside Raducanu ever since she reached the fourth round on her debut appearance in 2021.

Big-stage jitters and injuries might have prevented her from topping that performance but on Friday's evidence, many will start believing this could be the year when she becomes the first home hope since Virginia Wade in 1977 to hoist the Venus Rosewater Dish.