British darling Emma Radacanu powered through her Wimbledon opener, easing past fellow Brit Mimi Xu 6-3, 6-3.
2025 WTA Tour
Grand Slam Tennis
Wimbledon Tennis Championships
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, England (Outdoor Grass-court)
Selected 2nd Round Matches- 2nd June
Emma Radacanu 1.5 vs Marketa Vondrousova 0.52
The 2021 US Open champ dominated on her own delivery, winning 75% of her first-serve points. She simply had too much class for the up-and-coming Welsh teenager, using her powerful serve and forehand down the line to cause maximum damage. Radacanu has twice reached the 4th round here and recently picked up a quarterfinal finish at Queen’s. She seems to be finding a semblance of consistency for the first time in ages. 2023 Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova extended her current grass-court winning streak to six matches with a straight-sets win over Nottingham champ McCartney Kessler. The unseeded Czech- who reached a career-high ranking of 6th last year- has been besieged by injury issues throughout her career (a hand issue brought a premature end to her 2024 campaign). She suffered a shoulder injury this past February, forcing her to miss three further months of action. She returned to action at the French Open and picked up a solid 3rd round finish. But she truly reannounced herself in Berlin, beating the likes of Sabalenka and Keys en route to the WTA 500 crown. The crafty Czech loves to blend power with finesse and is gifted with arguably the greatest drop-shot in the game (which is ideal on these low-bouncing surfaces).
The Verdict: Vondrousova to win in three at 3.2- Vondrousova leads the head-to-head 2-1, winning in straight sets at this year’s Abu Dhabi Open. Having said that, Radacanu thrashed the Czech on these surfaces back in 2021. This really feels like a toss-up. Radacanu will have her moments (no doubt emboldened by the home crowd). But I think the Czech will gain the ascendancy as the match progresses, using her greater variety to wear Radacanu down.
Ashlyn Krueger (31) 0.75 vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 1.05
American Ashlyn Kruger has enjoyed a positive season and currently sits on the brink of cracking into the top 30 for the first time in her career. She reached the quarterfinals in Adelaide before registering a maiden WTA 500 final appearance in Abu Dhabi. She reached the 4th round in Miami (highlighting her growing ability to mix it in high-calibre fields). Sure, she lost both of her grass-court precursor matches. But she bounced back solidly in her Wimbledon opener, easing past Brit Mika Stojsavljevic 6-3, 6-2. She is a typical first-strike player, using her big serve and potent forehand to dominate opponents. Former World No.11 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova hasn’t reached a final since finishing runner-up at the 2021 French Open. But the veteran Russian started the year in incredible fashion, reaching the quarterfinals of the Aussie Open. She went through a major lull after that but suddenly came into some form on the grass, reaching the semifinals in Eastbourne. She had some serving issues in her Wimbledon opener against Ajla Tomljanovic, committing ten double faults. But she managed to stabilize, coming back from a set down to take down the Aussie.
The Verdict: Pavlyuchenkova to win in straight sets at 2.2- Pavlyuchenkova leads the head-to-head 1-0, beating the American in three sets at last year’s Citi Open. I think that the Russian’s experience will give her the edge over Krueger (who lost both of her grass-court warmup matches). Pavlyuchenkova’s emphasis on strategic shot-making could cause the more one-dimensional Krueger some problems.
