The strange and magical alchemy that transformed an 18-year-old qualifier into a US Open champion four years ago, and then was lost, danced and flickered again on the hallowed lawn of Centre Court on Friday night.
For two hours dead of a captivating, intoxicating, magnificently enthralling game of tennis against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Emma Raducanu was everything we once thought she might be when she won at Flushing Meadows in 2021 without dropping a single set.
More importantly, perhaps, Raducanu, the world No 40, played a quality of tennis against the dominant player in the women’s game that hinted, for the first time since those surreal three weeks in New York City, at everything she might yet be again.
Over two fantastic, roller-coaster, nail-biting sets of the most dramatic and highly-charged match this tournament has seen so far, Raducanu pushed Sabalenka to the limits of her formidable ability in a 7-6, 6-4 defeat.
The first set, a 74-minute epic, was one of the best passages of sport anyone will see all year. At its heart was a remarkable game, with Raducanu 5-4 down in the first set, where she saved seven set points and then won the game.
In those moments, it felt as if she was reaching down and picking up all the broken dreams that have littered her path since that triumph in New York and casting them away at last.
Emma Raducanu has shown that she can once again return to tennis’ giddy heights
The Brit went toe-to-toe with Aryna Sabalenka in her third round defeat at Wimbledon
Sabalenka said after the game that she had to ‘fight for every point like crazy’ as she complimented her opponent
‘I had to fight for every point like crazy,’ Sabalenka said after the match. ‘I am happy to see her healthy. I’m pretty sure she can reach the top 10 again. My ears are still hurting.’
Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, had come into the match as an overwhelming favourite after reaching the finals of both the Australian Open and the French Open and cementing her status as the dominant player in the women’s game.
Most expected that she would overwhelm Raducanu with the sheer power of her hitting, which has helped to establish her ahead of Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek as the woman best placed to be the heir to her heroine, Serena Williams.
Any optimism about Raducanu’s prospects was tempered by the fact that she has failed to win a set in eight matches against Sabalenka, Gauff and Swiatek, although, if there was a straw to clutch, it was that none of those matches were played on grass.
Twilight had fallen when the players walked on to the court just before 8pm and the Centre Court roof had been closed.
There was a trill of excitement when the floodlights were switched on and another exaggerated murmur when Raducanu won the first point. There was more encouragement for the crowd when Raducanu pounced on a Sabalenka second serve in that opening game and crunched a forehand winner down the line to earn break point. Sabalenka saved it but it felt like a dent in her aura of invincibility.
Raducanu had started well. She served a double fault in her opening service game but she served an ace, too, slicing the serve out wide and leaving the Belarusian flat-footed. She held serve comfortably enough.
At 2-2, Raducanu put Sabalenka’s serve under pressure again. Another superb forehand winner down the line gave her a second break point. Sabalenka saved it with an ace. An unforced error from the No 1 seed gave Raducanu another break point. Sabalenka saved that, too.
Raducanu was everything we once thought she might be when she won the US Open in 2021
There was concern when she fell, but she showed impressive resilience throughout the tie
Sabalenka showed the first signs of becoming irritated by the crowd’s partisan support for her opponent and she gifted Raducanu a third break point. When she hit a shot into the net, the roar from Centre Court was so loud it almost lifted the roof off.
Raducanu was alive with confidence. The crowd willed her on. A Sabalenka return landed just out and when the big screen showed its trajectory, there was a huge collective yell of triumph and relief. ‘Let’s go Emma,’ they sang, ‘let’s go.’
Raducanu had a 4-2 lead. Sabalenka’s body language was fretful and exasperated. She seemed surprised by the level of Raducanu’s resistance. Actually, she seemed more than surprised. She looked bewildered. As if she did not know where this performance had come from.
But then the spell wore off. Raducanu seemed irritated by a line call and let her irritation linger. She served and Sabalenka slammed a backhand winner down the line, Raducanu floated a weak backhand long and then hit a forehand wildly long. Her metronomic, nerveless hitting deserted her. Sabalenka broke her serve to love.
In the blink of an eye, Raducanu was 5-4 down. Her ground strokes became erratic. One in a series of unforced errors gave Sabalenka set point.
Raducanu saved it with an ace. She saved a second set point, too. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. And a sixth. And a seventh. And then she held for 5-5. And when Sabalenka’s backhand hurtled long, another roar to rent the roof in two rang around the famous old arena.
It was compelling theatre. Raducanu started the next game with two brilliant backhand winners down the line. Then, more drama. Chasing a drop shot from Sabalenka, Raducanu fell heavily.
She has such a wretched injury history, it was impossible not to worry. But she got up. And then she broke Sabalenka’s serve.
Sabalenka rattled off five games in a row to seal the match but it did not feel as if Raducanu had lost the game
Raducanu saved a number of set points in the first set before succumbing in a tie break
Sabalenka remains the heavy favourite to go on and lift the Wimbledon crown next week
She looks, at last, as if that world of possibility that stretched out before her four years ago may one day be hers to conquer again
Raducanu served for the set but Sabalenka played a stunning game of crushing winners and top-spin lobs and broke back to force the set into a tie-break. For the first time, it felt as if Raducanu was wilting a little in the face of her opponent’s power.
The tie-break was a nail-biter. Sabalenka thought she had gone to set-point with a drive-volley winner. She clenched her fist. The replay showed it was out.
Raducanu moved to set-point instead. Sabalenka saved it with a beautifully, nervelessly executed drop-shot.
Soon, Sabalenka had an eighth set point. And this time, finally, Raducanu’s resistance was broken. The first set had lasted 74 minutes.
The drama abated for a while but then Sabalenka made a string of unforced errors and handed Raducanu a break and a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Raducanu found inspiration again now. She had points for 5-1 and 5-2 but could take neither and Sabalenka cut her lead to 4-3.
Sabalenka sensed Raducanu was tiring now and moved up a gear. Raducanu sensed it, too. Sabalenka rattled off five games in a row to seal the match but it did not feel as if Raducanu had lost. She had got up off the floor. She looks as if she is a player reborn.
She looks, at last, as if that world of possibility that stretched out before her four years ago may one day be hers to conquer again.
