Wild card Emma Raducanu commandingly booked British representation in the second week of Wimbledon with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over No.9 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece on Friday.

"I'm very pleased of course," Raducanu said in her post-match press. "I think I played a really good match. That's honestly the thing I'm happiest with, just the level I put on the court today. I'm just looking forward to getting out there for the next round."

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Under a closed roof on Centre Court, 2021 US Open champion Raducanu thrilled her home crowds by toppling ninth-ranked Sakkari in 1 hour and 32 minutes of play.

Raducanu saved all seven of the break points she faced in the match -- and as 2021 Wimbledon champion and former World No.1 Ashleigh Barty astutely pointed out during commentary, Raducanu got her first serve into play on each of those seven occasions.

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Encore performance: Raducanu surely had good memories of the one previous time she had faced Sakkari, when she cruised past the Greek in the 2021 US Open semifinals as a 150th-ranked qualifier. In her next match, Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez to become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.

Despite the run through New York City in 2021 -- including the win over Sakkari, then ranked No.18 -- Raducanu had never garnered a Top 10 win until a narrow victory over Jessica Pegula at Eastbourne last week.

Now, with Friday's win over Sakkari also under her belt, Raducanu has picked up the first two Top 10 wins of her career over the last two weeks.

Rising on grass: Currently ranked World No.135, Raducanu is maintaining a strong stretch of form during the grass-court swing -- a portion of the year she missed in 2023 while recovering from injuries and surgeries.

This time around, Raducanu made her first semifinal of the year in on the lawns of Nottingham, then backed it up by beating Pegula to reach the Eastbourne quarterfinals.

Former World No.10 Raducanu is now into the Wimbledon second week for the first time since she reached the Round of 16 upon her main-draw debut in 2021 -- the Slam preceding her historic US Open title run.

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"It's obviously amazing," Raducanu said. "I think you do your work day in, day out. You never know when it's going to pay off, you never know when you're going to reap the rewards.

"I think after a lot of losses just on a regular tour, it's very difficult sometimes to stay in the moment, keep working, get back up, just keep doing your thing. You have to have in the back of your mind at some point it's going to pay off and you just don't know when.

"I'm very happy that a lot of the work I've been doing has compounded and has been able to show this week."

The result is another feather in the cap for the Brits this week, who placed three women into the third round for the first time since 1984, 40 years ago. Qualifier Sonay Kartal's run ended with a loss to No.2 Coco Gauff on Friday, but Harriet Dart can still join Raducanu in the Round of 16 tomorrow.

Thunderous win: On a rainy Friday, Raducanu set the tone of the match early, when she won the first two games of the match despite being double game point down in each of them.

Already up an early break, Raducanu took overwhelming control in the first set by hitting a winning lob to break for 5-2. Raducanu then got out of another jam in the next game, saving two break points en route to the one-set lead.

It was a similar scenario in the second set, where Raducanu went ahead by a break at 2-1, then saved two more break points with key first serves to consolidate for 3-1. At 5-3, Raducanu converted her third match point when a Sakkari forehand flew wide.

Qualifier Sun awaits: Next up for Raducanu will be a qualifier who is having her own breakthrough run this fortnight: World No.123 Lulu Sun of New Zealand. Sun defeated Zhu Lin 7-6(4), 7-6(6) earlier on Friday, saving two set points in the second-set tiebreak.

Sun becomes first New Zealander in Wimbledon second week in Open Era

"I would be super happy to be able to have that opportunity to play against [Raducanu,] such a great athlete," Sun said earlier on Friday. "She's obviously been far in the Grand Slams before, and she's, I'm pretty sure, Wimbledon's favorite since she's from here."

Sun had never won a Grand Slam main-draw match until her stunning upset of No.8 seed Zheng Qinwen in the first round here. Now the 23-year-old is the first woman representing New Zealand to reach a Grand Slam Round of 16 since Belinda Cordwell made the Australian Open semifinals in 1989, 35 years ago.

"I wasn't expecting to be here at this stage, but I've just been playing match-by-match," Sun said. "Yeah, here I am," she finished with a laugh.