Emma Raducanu will attempt to take the positives from her defeat to Wimbledon favourite Aryna Sabalenka.

Sabalenka triumphed 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 in a topsy-turvy third-round clash at the All England Club on Friday.

Buoyed by the Centre Court crowd, Raducanu pushed the world number one all the way.

Indeed, a third set looked likely when Raducanu broke to go into a 4-1 lead in the second, only for Sabalenka's quality to shine through as she reeled off five straight games to tee up a tie with Elise Mertens.

Raducanu, though, was not too downbeat.

"It's hard to take a loss like that. At the same time, I'm playing Aryna, who is a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort today," said the 2021 US Open champion, who was tearful as she performed her media duties.

"It does give me confidence because I think the problem before was that I felt like I was gulfs away from the very top.

"Having a match like that where I had chances in both sets does give me confidence. At the same time, it's very difficult to take right now.

"It's going to take me a few days to process. But at the same time it really motivates me.

"It could be a good thing that I want to get straight back to work because [my game is] not far [off].

"There's still a lot of things that I want to do better, a lot of things I want to improve to really solidify my game so that in the big moments I can back myself a little bit more."

3/3 - Aryna Sabalenka is the first player to make the Round of 16 in all their first three Women’s Singles Grand Slam appearances as World No. 1 since Ashleigh Barty (Wimbledon 2019, Australian Open 2020 and 2021). Leader.#Wimbledon | @Wimbledon @WTA pic.twitter.com/LnaoKwm09p

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) July 4, 2025

Sabalenka is the first woman to reach the fourth round in at least 11 consecutive grand slam appearances since Serena Williams went on a run of 14 between the 2014 US Open and 2019 Australian Open.

Raducanu, meanwhile, has won only three of her 16 clashes against players ranked inside the top 10. 

But Sabalenka feels the 22-year-old's level is rising.

The Belarusian said: "I can't predict anything, but I'm definitely sure that, maybe not in the months, but in a bit longer period, she's definitely going to get back to the top.

"She's fighting. She's playing much better. She's more consistent. I can see that mentally she's healthy. That's really important. I'm pretty sure she’s getting there."