British wildcard Emma Raducanu booked her place in the second week at Wimbledon with a remarkable straight sets win (6-3, 7-5) over Sorana Cirstea on Saturday.
The feat means Raducanu, 18, is the youngest British woman to make the round of 16 at Wimbledon in the Open Era. Raducanu came into Wimbledon ranked world No. 338, but her charge to the fourth round sees her move into the top 250. She is yet to drop a set at this year's Wimbledon, her first career Grand Slam.
"Honestly, I'm so speechless right now," Raducanu said in her post-match interview. "I didn't know what my reaction would be if I won and that just happened.
"I'm so, so grateful for all the support I had today. I really appreciate it. Just to stay here another day really and play in front of you all."
Raducanu received a wildcard for this year's tournament and started with an impressive 7-6 (4), 6-0 win over Vitalia Diatchenko on Tuesday. She then followed that up with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Marketa Vondrousova on Thursday.
Raducanu headed into Saturday's match on Court No.1 as the last remaining Brit in the women's singles draw. She went a break of serve down in the fourth game but then won five games on the trot to take the first set 6-3.
She continued that incredible run of form into the second set, breaking Cirstea on her first service game. Cirstea rallied back to level it at 3-3 and saved two match points in the 12th, only for Raducanu to close it out brilliantly to take the second set 7-5.
Enjoy every second, @EmmaRaducanu 😊#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/g7hI1gPBP2
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 3, 2021
She completed her A-Levels in mathematics and economics in May. This has been her first professional tournament since March 2020, having turned pro in 2018.
Aged 18 years and 232 days, Raducanu reaching the round of 16 sees her overtake Deborah Jevans' previous feat in 1979 when she reached the same stage of the Championship aged 19 years, 48 days.
When asked if she was nervous before the match, Raducanu said: "At the beginning definitely. This is by far the biggest court I've played on. I think I coped quite well in the beginning. It was a tight match.
"I just tried to hold my nerve. You [the fans] really got me through.
"It's funny because when I was packing to come into the bubble my parents were like: 'Aren't you packing too many match kits?'
"I think I might have to do some laundry tonight."