Three weeks ago, Clara Tauson had never won a match on grass at a major tournament. Now she is in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
And the fact that the Danish tennis player has recovered her stylish stride on the fast surface was proven on Saturday afternoon, when Tauson played some of the best tennis of her career to beat the 11th seeded Elena Rybakina in the third round.
22-year-old Tauson showed stamina, strength, finesse, winning in two sets: 7-6 and 6-3 over the world number 11, who had won Wimbledon back in 2022.
She is thus only the second Danish female singles player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon. Caroline Wozniacki reached the fourth round six times, but never advanced to the fifth round of the tournament.
In the fourth round, Clara Tauson, who is ranked 22nd in the world, will face either Iga Swiatek or Danielle Collins.
The first set turned into a bit of a thriller, and although both players had break points during the first few games of the match, they managed to hold serve until the game was suspended at 4-4 because of a rain delay.
Two hours later, the game was resumed and Tauson used the interruption to good effect producing delicious backhands, cheeky drop shots and not least a powerful first serve.
The first set was decided in a tiebreak with Tauson simply irresistible. The two players pushed each other to the limit but Tauson was stronger in the end and won the tiebreak 8-6 and thus the first set 7-6.
Tauson then carried her momentum into the second set. She held serve comfortably in the first game and then broke Rybakina's serve in superb fashion before taking a 3-0 lead against the shell-shocked Rybakina.
At 4-2, the two players were again forced to endure a short rain delay but Tauson kept her cool and never allowed Rybakina into the game again winning the second set 6-3 to book her ticket for the next round.