Aryna Sabalenka had already faced tough competition from McCartney Kessler at last year’s Indian Wells. The American had pushed the world No. 1 to a tie-break in the first set before falling short. So she knew what to expect from her opponent. But this time, the deficit nearly cost the Belarusian the tournament as she rallied from 5-2 down in the second set at the All-England Club. Sabalenka praised Kessler in her post-match interview for giving her a real scare.

“That was a true battle. I’m super happy I was able to stay in that 2nd set and get into the tie-break. That was a really great fight. Incredible level in the 2nd set from her. She really tested me. I’m super happy to pass the test.” 

When asked to rate her own performance today, the Belarusian gave an honest assessment.

“I’d say if you’re talking about the fight and the test and that I have to overcome something, I would say 9 out of 10. Because that was really tough to overcome in the 2nd set.”

Sabalenka looked in complete control from the start of the match. The top seed comfortably claimed the opening set 6-1 and appeared to be cruising toward another routine victory at ‌SW19.

But the momentum of the game shifted dramatically in the second set. The former world No. 30 raised her level and started asking very different questions of the top seed, coming to the net.

Kessler’s net game became outstanding, breaking Sabalenka to move ahead 4-2.

As expected, the 4x Grand Slam champion responded when the pressure rose. However, Kessler served for the set at 5-3 and held her first two set points. On the first, the 28-year-old ripped a backhand return down the line, and on the second, the current world No. 57 pushed a forehand long.

The second set eventually reached a tense tie-break. At the end, the top seed at SW19 refused to let the second set slip, blasting her 32nd winner of the match with a stunning forehand to seal victory on her 3rd match point.

She had rated her last performance 8/10. This was an even tougher battle for her, and she had to dig much deeper to defend her place at Wimbledon.

Aryna Sabalenka to face Jelena Ostapenko in the R3 of Wimbledon

Despite surviving a difficult second set in the R2, the top seed knows the challenge will only get tougher from here. Her R3 test comes against the 29-year-old Jelena Ostapenko, who looked in great form in her R2 match on Court 17.

The former French Open winner produced a flawless performance to defeat 23-year-old Antonia Ruzic in just 66 minutes. 

Sabalenka leads the overall H2H 3-1 against the Latvian. However, it was the former world No. 5 who won their most recent meeting in the 2025 Stuttgart final.

Their upcoming contest will also mark the first time both ‌WTA players have faced each other on grass courts. That could play an important role, especially with the Latvian owning 2 WTA career grass-court titles, while the Belarusian is still chasing her first on the surface.

Sabalenka will also take confidence from her own performances so far at the All-England Club. After defeating Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic in ‌R1, she once again showed her fighting spirit by overcoming another stern test today.

Still, the next challenge promises to be a completely different one, as Ostapenko has already made it clear how much she enjoys playing on grass.

“You play on a big court, in a great place, on grass, which is one of my favorite surfaces. It’s just so much fun.” 

With both players carrying confidence into the matchup, an exciting R3 battle now awaits. Who do you think will come out on top? Share your thoughts below!