Before the start of the 2024 Wimbledon championships, you may not have had Emma Raducanu and Maria Sakkari progressing to a third-round meeting in your draw predictions.

Sakkari, the ninth seed, had lost in the first round of four of her past five Grand Slam tournaments. Raducanu, drawn to face 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova – a formidable grass-courter – had not gone past the second round at a major since stunning the sporting world with her 2021 US Open triumph.

Then things began shifting.

Alexandrova withdrew from the tournament due to illness, handing Raducanu a first-round assignment instead against lucky loser Renata Zarazua. She successfully passed that, before flattening former world No.12 Elise Mertens for the loss of just three games on Wednesday.

Murmurs started when Sakkari went down an early break in her first-round match against American qualifier McCartney Kessler.

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But she settled, and stormed home to win 10 of the last 11 games. Another straight-sets win followed over Arantxa Rus to set up the blockbuster against the British star.

The fact this is Raducanu’s best run at a major since that dazzling result in New York is not lost on Sakkari – she was one of Raducanu’s victims during that US Open run.

Emma Raducanu celebrates her victory at the 2021 US Open. [Getty Images]

Back then Sakkari had beaten a succession of stellar names – Petra Kvitova, Bianca Andreescu and Karolina Pliskova – to reach her second Grand Slam semifinal of 2021. Ranked 18th at the time, she was expected to comfortably handle Raducanu, who was completely untested at that level, just 18 years of age, and a qualifier ranked 150th.

Raducanu won 6-1 6-4, and the rest is history.

“Obviously it was meant to be, I think, that week. It was written in the stars for her, and she took that opportunity. That’s always going to stay there,” Sakkari reflected.

“Whenever she’s done with tennis, even if she doesn’t win anything else as big as that one, it’s something that happens once every probably 100, even more than 100 times. It’s a very proud moment for her and for her country, and it was a great memory.”

“I think the opportunity is for both. She’s also playing a top-10 player. Let’s not forget that.”

Maria Sakkari, on facing Emma Raducanu

Sakkari said she did not remember how Raducanu was playing when they met in that US Open semifinal.

“I watch a lot of tennis, but she also hasn’t played too many tournaments,” said Sakkari, who also admitted she had not seen a lot of Raducanu play in subsequent years. “Obviously you go on social media. You see highlights of points, but I haven’t really watched any of her recent matches this year or the years before.”

This is another reason Raducanu’s run to the third round is surprising – she simply hasn’t played a lot of tennis since that major triumph.

The Brit’s career has been blighted by injuries, most recently when she underwent surgeries on her wrists and ankle and missed the majority of 2023.

Raducanu admitted missing Wimbledon last year was especially painful, but it’s as if she has been making up for lost time on home soil, reaching the Nottingham semifinals and Eastbourne quarters before arriving at the All England Club.

This form showed when she took on Mertens; Raducanu struck 22 winners and committed just 14 unforced errors.

“I’m super pleased with that performance,” said Raducanu, who since returning to tennis in 2024 has risen from outside the top 300 to world No.135.

“I just had so much fun on the court, to be honest. I absolutely love playing on Court 1. I felt the atmosphere was amazing with the crowd.

“I really fed off of it and played some really good stuff.”

Raducanu was not prepared to draw parallels with her previous meeting against Sakkari and this one at Wimbledon, saying “circumstances are different”.

“(This is) in a third round compared to a semifinal. At the time the dynamics were also different. I was an unknown player pretty much,” Raducanu said.

“I’m expecting a really tough match. She’s top in the world, I don’t know, top 10 or something. It’s going to be a really difficult one.

“Again, it’s going to be one where I’m the complete underdog and I can just enjoy playing in my home crowd, home slam, just keep having fun and trying to stay an extra day.”

Sakkari was asked about the prospect of facing Raducanu, this time on her “home turf”.

“I think the opportunity is for both. She’s also playing a top-10 player. Let’s not forget that,” Sakkari said.

“She’s an unbelievable player. She’s very talented. She’s very promising. Even after winning a Grand Slam, she’s still very young. Obviously, she’s going to be the favourite because she’ll be playing home. If anything, that’s normal.

“I’m excited. It’s another challenge. That’s why we play tennis. That’s what we play for. It’s going to be pretty exciting. I’m pumped.”