Raducanu beats 2023 champion Vondrousova to set up Sabalenka tie

British number one Emma Raducanu swept aside 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova to reach the Wimbledon third round.

The 22-year-old produced an outstanding performance marked by authority and intensity on Centre Court to win 6-3 6-3 in 82 minutes.

It was a level the former US Open champion will need to replicate - if not improve - when she meets world number one and top seed Aryna Sabalenka next and equal her best run at the Championships.

Raducanu was the third British player through to the third round on Wednesday, following earlier victories for Sonay Kartal and Cameron Norrie.

Her victory came on a day when 2024 runner-up Jasmine Paolini became the fourth top-five seed to exit the women's draw as she was upset by Kamilla Rakhimova.

It is just the second time in the Open era that only one of the top five players - Sabalenka - has made it through to the third round of the women's singles at a Grand Slam event.

After regaining her status as British number one following a run to the Queen's quarter-finals last month, Raducanu spoke about how she is now feeling free to express herself on court.

Her final Wimbledon preparations did not go perfectly, though, and she admitted she needed to get her "head in the game" after losing to Australian teenager Maya Joint in Eastbourne last month.

But, after a comfortable opening victory over compatriot Mimi Xu, this was Raducanu at her free-flowing best.

Following an assured start, she made a deserved breakthrough in the sixth game with a stunning passing winner on the first break point of the match.

Vondrousova offered an immediate response but the Briton regained her composure and pounced again on a fourth break point opportunity for a 5-3 lead, before seeing out the set.

Raducanu did not allow her intensity to drop at the start of the second as, to the delight of her adoring home crowd, she again broke the 26-year-old Czech's resistance with a third break point for a 2-1 lead.

She began her push for the finish line by avoiding a repeat of the immediate setback in the opening set, battling to a superb hold from two break points down.

Such was the consistency Raducanu had shown on serve, she closed in on victory untroubled, and the chair umpire had to remind the crowd to remain quiet during the points as their excitement increased.

Ending with a final break of serve to complete one of her best displays in recent memory, the manner of this success against a former champion will give her a major lift heading into a tantalising encounter with Sabalenka.