Wimbledon Day 5 Preview: Emma Raducanu, Aryna Sabalenka kick off first weekend

Aryna Sabalenka vs. Emma Raducanu

“Facing British at Wimbledon, I’m not sure I prefer that,” Sabalenka said when she was asked if would rather play Raducanu, or the woman that the Brit beat in the second round on Wednesday, Marketa Vondrousova.

Can you tell Sabalenka doesn’t love being the enemy of every single person in an arena? I don’t think anyone does, except maybe Novak Djokovic when he’s feeling especially ornery. The trouble for Sabalenka is that she can let a partisan crowd get to her in a way that negatively affects her game. We all know what happened after she played Coco Gauff in front of 23,000 of the Floridian’s fans in the US Open final a couple of years ago: Her racquet ended up in a trash can.

So that’s the first thing to watch for on Friday: How does Sabalenka react if she struggles early, or Raducanu comes out hot, and the Centre Court crowd makes its presence felt? Sabalenka has worked hard to rein her emotions in, but as we saw in another final against Gauff, last month at Roland Garros, she doesn’t always succeed. Raducanu, by contrast, has used the home support to her advantage in the past. She’s made the fourth round at Wimbledon twice.

Which brings us to the matchup itself. At first glance, it might seem one-sided. Sabalenka is No. 1; Raducanu No. 40. Sabalenka is taller, stronger, hits with more pace, and does everything a little—sometimes a lot—better. It feels like she should overpower Raducanu without much trouble.

In their only previous meeting, though, last year at Indiana Wells, that wasn’t quite the case. Sabalenka won 6-3, 7-5, but Raducanu held her own in the rallies much of the time, and turned many of them into all-court scrambles. She also made a strong goal-line stand at 5-6 in the second set that had Sabalenka teetering on the brink of a meltdown.

Raducanu has made strides since then, as her opponent acknowledges.

“Emma is playing much better tennis since last year, I have to say,” Sabalenka says. “She improved. You can see that she’s getting back on track.”

The problem, perhaps, for Raducanu, is that while she’s not as powerful as Sabalenka, offensive tennis is still her best bet. When she’s on, she’s a highly efficient aggressor. But can she find a way to take the initiative from Sabalenka without overdoing it?

“I know it’s going to be a massive challenge,” Raducanu says. “I’m going to have to play some really good tennis.”

“You can’t really do nothing or give nothing balls to her. I’m going to have to be aggressive but pick my moments and not kind of be overly. I think you can fall into that trap, too. I don’t think I’m going to go out there and out-power her, like, size-wise and power-wise. I think I’m going to have to try and be creative, as well.”

Raducanu’s recently-developed slice backhand could be a start.

Sabalenka is a solid favorite. But there are a couple things that can rattle her: A hostile crowd, and an opponent who matches her pace and takes the racquet out of her hands. On a perfect day, Raducanu and her fans could make both of those things happen. Winner: Sabalenka