After Emma Raducanu battle, British crowd adopts Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon

In the throes of a tense Wimbledon clash with home favorite Emma Raducanu, Aryna Sabalenka confessed to pretending the raucous Centre Court crowd was cheering for her.

Less than 48 hours later, the world No. 1 had no need for imagined applause as she edged into a popular victory over Elise Mertens, 6-4, 7-6 (4).

“I didn't have to pretend that they were cheering for me because they were really cheering for me,” Sabalenka joked in her post-match press conference.

“I mean, what can be better than that? I really enjoyed that. I really hope that it can stay the same all the way, and they going to help me energy-wise to stay strong and to face all of the challenges.”

I didn't have to pretend that they were cheering for me because they were really cheering for me. Aryna Sabalenka on the Wimbledon crowd

Sabalenka has been an inconsistent figure at SW19 this decade, missing last year’s tournament due to injury, but has made the most of three main-draw appearances since 2019 with two semifinal appearances. In her first Wimbledon as world No. 1, she is yet to drop a set but has battled through three tiebreakers against Mertens, Raducanu, and Marie Bouzkova—increasing her Sudden Death streak to 14 in a row.

“Not thinking about these stats during the match helps me to stay focused from the very beginning till the very end of the tiebreak,” explained Sabalenka, who reached an 11th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal with today’s win. “Because tiebreak is a tricky game. Everything can just go one way or another. You just got to be focused on each point and be aggressive. Not to, I don't know, slow down your arms, just go for your motions. Play as it's just a game and stay aggressive.”

She continued a third streak against Mertens, a former doubles partner with whom she won two Grand Slam titles. After losing two of their first three singles meetings, Sabalenka has now won 10 in a row against the Belgian, improving to 3-0 in 2025.

In search of her first Wimbledon title, the top seed has survived the numerous upsets that plagued the first week of the tournament and will result in just one other seed joining her in the top half of the women’s draw (No. 13 seed Amanda Anisimova or No. 30 Linda Noskova). With pressure on the world No. 1 to erase the disappointment of back-to-back finals defeats at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, Sabalenka has drawn inspiration from chats with none other than Novak Djokovic—who, like Sabalenka, has plenty of experience winning matches without a crowd’s support.

“One of the conversations went to like, managing energy,” Sabalenka described in press. “Another one about the mental part of the game. Then we had another conversation about, like, mentally approaching those big finals. I think mostly we're talking about mental part of the game.

“I mean, also one time he really help[ed] me with the return. Now he's always like making fun of me copying his return. I'm like, ‘Man, it's working. I'm copying the best.’”

By matching the seven-time champion and winning a first title at the All England Club, imitation, for Sabalenka, would be more than simply the sincerest form of flattery.