Aryna Sabalenka staves off Emma Raducanu's Centre Court challenge at Wimbledon

LONDON (AP) — Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staved off an upset bid by resurgent Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon by beating the home favorite, 7-6 (6), 6-4, in the third-round at a raucous Centre Court on Friday night.

Sabalenka, a two-time semifinalist at the All England Club, fought back in both sets against the the 2021 US Open champion, who had been playing some of her best tennis since her title run at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier at age 18.

In a 74-minute first set, Sabalenka converted her eighth set point, which came 30 minutes after the first.

Raducanu went up 4-2, only to see Sabalenka reel off 11 of 12 points during one stretch while moving out front by a 5-4 score.

Then arrived an epic game, lasting 13 minutes and containing 22 points, eight deuces, and seven set points for Sabalenka — all ending with Raducanu holding serve.

Then, Raducanu had a set point while leading 6-5 in the tiebreaker, but Sabalenka saved it with a drop-shot winner and took the last three points of the set — ending it with a volley winner.

The fans provided extra energy for the British player, cheering wildly when Raducanu fired winners and exhaling "aww!" when she missed.

Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam champion, said she pretended the cheers were for her.

"Guys wow — what an atmosphere. My ears are still hurting. It was super loud," she said in an on-court interview.

In the second set, Raducanu broke to 3-1 and led 4-1 at the 1-hour, 35-minute mark, but Sabalenka reeled off the last five games.

Raducanu, ranked No. 40, had defeated 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the previous round.

"She pushed me really hard to get this win. I'm happy to see her healthy and back on track," Sabalenka said. "I'm pretty sure that soon she's going to be back in the top 10."

Sabalenka reached the final at each of the past three Grand Slam tournaments, winning the US Open last September and finishing as the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June.