By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 30, 2021
Aryna Sabalenka reached the third round at Wimbledon for the first time on Wednesday at Wimbledon.
Photo Source: Getty
The Centre Court experience can be harrowing for players, especially when they face one of the British clan. On Day 3 at Wimbledon, it was No.2-seeded Aryna Sabalenka who was forced to run the gauntlet against a fever-pitched, Pimm’s-soaked British crowd and a fired-up wild card by the name of Katie Boulter.
It was far from a simple affair, and the tension was heightened due to the fact that Sabalenka was making her first ever Centre Court appearance and trying to reach the third round at Wimbledon for the first time.
And there’s also the monkey on the Belarusian’s back: the fact that she is the only top-20 seed at Wimbledon who has yet to reach the quarter-finals of a Slam.
Sabalenka was one of the best players on clay in 2021, but still met her maker at Roland-Garros, falling to Anastasia Pavlychenkova in the third round. That makes it a total of 14 Grand Slams without a quarter-final to her name – given the talent and ranking of Sabalenka it just doesn’t seem right.
And yet she found herself in trouble again as Boulter, ranked 219, rifled through the first set behind nine winners and just three unforced errors.
The second set was tense, but there were crucial moments where Sabalenka bit the bullet and stood tall. She eventually moved ahead by a break and then saved a break point at 5-3, 30-40 to close it out.
In the third set Sabalenka again moved ahead by the break and fought through a massive game, saving six break point to hold for 5-3, before breaking to seal the victory.
“I'm proud that I actually could get through this match because I was really emotional in the beginning and I didn't really feel the surface out there,” she said. “She was playing really great. Of course, crowd was support her more. I felt like everything was against me, and I'm really happy that I could, like, separate myself from the people and everything, and just think about my game, what I have to do.
It was an impressive performance from Sabalenka, the type of win that Grand Slam champions all need to suffer through at some point during a run. Now, can she follow it up?
Next up she will face Colombian qualifier Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, a very winnable match for a spot in the second week. It’s an opportunity that Sabalenka is happy to have after walking the tightrope to get there on Day 3.
“This is what we're here for, for great battles, like challenges, to challenge ourselves,” she said. “This match is actually matches which help us to become better player. Yeah, of course I enjoy it. I enjoy this atmosphere, everything what I was trying to deal with. I enjoy it. I think because of that I won this match because it was a pressure, but it was pressure which I really liked—happy that I could win this match.”