READ MORE:<\/strong> Boomers shock as Aussie NBA star cut for Paris<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong> Coach winds up 'scrawny' rival in epic presser<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Her form had been building leading into the tournament, with the Brit making her first semi-final of the year at Nottingham last month. She also scored her first win against a top 10 player against Jessica Pegula, saving a match point in the process.<\/p>\n Watch Wimbledon 2024 live and exclusively free on Nine and<\/strong> 9Now<\/strong><\/a>. Plus centre court in 4K UHD on<\/strong> Stan Sport<\/strong><\/a>, the home of grand slam tennis.<\/strong><\/p>\n After a couple of injury-plagued seasons, the British home favourite is playing some of her best tennis since winning at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier..<\/p>\n And any discomfort with playing in front of a home crowd with huge expectations seems to have gone away.<\/p>\n \u201cToday was really up there with the most fun I\u2019ve had on a tennis court,\u201d Raducanu said.<\/p>\n "I really enjoyed every single moment. I think I was just telling myself, how many times in your life are you going to get the opportunity to play in front of a full Centre Court?\u201d<\/p>\n Raducanu defeated Sakkari in the semi-finals on her way to her history-making US Open breakthrough almost three years ago.<\/p>\n Raducanu, who is also playing mixed doubles with Andy Murray, will next face qualifier Lulu Sun, who became the first woman from New Zealand to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon in the Open era.<\/p>\n Sun has a lot in common with Raducanu. Both have Chinese heritage on their mother's side, and Sun has also managed to make it far in a Grand Slam as a qualifier.<\/p>\n \u201cQualifiers are actually sometimes more dangerous,\u201d Raducanu said. \u201cI\u2019m really up for a battle, though.\u201d<\/p>\n Meantime, Coco Gauff,\ufeff who's never been to the quarter-finals at the All England Club, will get a third crack at it after beating British qualifier Sonay Kartal 6-4, 6-0 in the third round .<\/p>\n But for someone who played in two Grand Slam finals before turning 20 \u2014 winning one of them, at last year's U.S. Open \u2014 just getting to the quarter-finals, even at Wimbledon, isn't much of a goal.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like at this point, it feels as if losing in the fourth (round) or the quarter-finals feels the same in a way, just because I do have such big aspirations,\u201d said Gauff, who also reached the semi-finals at both the Australian Open and French Open this year. \u201cI feel like it sucks to say this, but once you win, you kind of take it for granted. I try not to, obviously. When you make a lot of quarterfinals in Slams, in general it just makes you want to make it to a semifinal. You make a couple semifinals, you want to make the final.\u201d<\/p>\n Gauff has also been a crowd favorite at Wimbledon ever since she burst onto the grass by beating Venus Williams in the first round in 2019.<\/p>\n So it was a slightly strange feeling for the American to know that a large section of the crowd would be rooting against her on Friday. That's because she was going up against Kartal, a British qualifier who had exceeded expectations just by making the third round.<\/p>\n \u201cI think this is my first time ever playing a British player here, so I was a little bit nervous honestly, going in," Gauff told the crowd after her win on No. 1 Court. \u201cBecause I knew you guys would be for her. Which is totally understandable.\u201d<\/p>\n Gauff will play another American next in Emma Navarro, who she beat in straight sets in Auckland in January. Navarro is making only her second appearance at Wimbledon, having lost in the first round last year, but also made the fourth round at the French Open in June.<\/p>\n \u201cI think when I played her at the beginning of the year, I wasn\u2019t necessarily ready for that challenge,\u201d Navarro said of Gauff. \u201cI know I have the level inside of me that can beat a player like her. It\u2019s maybe just a matter of doing it on a bigger stage.\u201d<\/p>\n Other women to advance to the round of 16 included Madison Keys, Paula Badosa, Donna Vekic and French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
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