Emma Raducanu 'took care of business' - now she just needs to manage the growing hype.

When you become a Grand Slam champion at 18, it's pretty hard to stop others getting a bit carried away.

But since that New York fairytale three years ago, Raducanu has struggled with both injuries and managing the towering expectations set for her career.

Feted with awards and showered with eye-watering endorsement deals, Raducanu was a millionaire many times over before the end of her teens.

However, she arrived at the All England Club injury-free and playing with a new confidence, dominating Belgium's Elise Mertens - a player ranked 102 places above her - to progress to her first Grand Slam third round since winning the US Open in 2021.

Mertens didn't help herself with a succession of unforced errors in the 6-1 6-2 defeat but Raducanu's power game looked on point in a match that lasted barely an hour on a partisan No.1 Court.

"When my character shows through my tennis is when I play my best," she said.

"I had so much fun and I really fed off that atmosphere. I think I played some really good tennis and I took care of business. I'm really pleased that I've extended my stay for a couple more days.

"The important thing is to just focus on myself, I've got to stay in the zone and in my own little world.

"I'm really happy with the improvements I've made to my game. I knew all the hard work would lead to something and I'm so happy to be reaping some rewards at Wimbledon.

"I think I played well but it's not my best match since the US Open, I've played other games I was probably more happy with."

A measure of Raducanu's ambition not to take things too seriously this week was her decision to play mixed doubles with Andy Murray, in his last appearance at the All England Club.

It's only Murray's second appearance in the mixed doubles here, having teamed up with Serena Williams to reach the third round in 2019. However, he did win Olympic silver with Laura Robson at Wimbledon in 2012.

"Wimbledon is Andy Murray and Andy Murray is Wimbledon," added Raducanu. "It took ten seconds to say yes. My doubles record isn't the best but you can't say no to Andy Murray.

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, it's been a dream of mine since I was a young girl. Andy is a hero to all of us, it's just a gift and honour to be asked. Hopefully I can learn a thing or too from him about coming to the net.

"When I look back at my career I'll be able to have a memory of playing here with Andy Murray, that's incredibly special."

Before her date with Andy will be a third round clash with Greece's Maria Sakkari, the No.9 seed, whose Wimbledon record is far from stellar - reaching the third round just twice in seven visits.

They've played just once before - when Raducanu won in straight sets in the US Open semi-finals. Another omen? Absolutely not insists the Brit.

"The circumstances are totally different," she added. "The dynamics are different, I was totally unknown when I played her last. She is a top ten player and I'm outside the world's top 100. I'm the complete underdog.

"It's easy to get caught up with things that have happened in the past and see all these parallels but no situation is the same."

Raducanu's successes mean she'll always bask in the glare of the spotlight here but arguably the better British performance was from qualifier Sonay Kartal.

The 22-year-old reached her first Grand Slam third round - where she'll play world No.2 Coco Gauff - with a gutsy 6-3 5-7 6-3 triumph over France's Clara Burel.

Kortal is only ranked a couple of places inside the world's top 300 but was recognised for her potential with a place on the LTA’s Lexus-sponsored Pro Scholarship Programme. She has banked a guaranteed £143,000 for her efforts so far, half her career earnings to date.

Kartal has several visible – and ‘pretty random’ – tattoos, including one on her wrist that marks a symbol of bravery.

And asked if she’d get another if she lowered the colours of Gauff to move into the last 16, she said: “Despite the outcome, whatever it is, I think there could be another one.

“I think there will probably be a bet in place with my coach - he also has tattoos and is pretty covered.

“There's always a joke in the Slams that we play if I reach certain rounds, there will be something.

“I'm super happy and proud of today's performance, how I managed to keep a level head throughout that match.

“This is going to help me for a little while and will propel me into playing the bigger tournaments and be on the bigger stage, which is what I want to be doing at the end of the day.”

For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website