Annabel Croft: Raducanu Opens Queen's With 6-0, 6-3 Win
Emma Raducanu opened her grass-court season with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Anna Blinkova at Queen’s in London, and annabel croft had the clearest result of the day to work with. The British No. 1 needed one hour to move through her first-round match. The win was her first WTA Tour victory since March.
Raducanu Starts Fast
Raducanu took control quickly and never let Blinkova settle into the match. She converted six of her eight break-point opportunities, then closed out a second set that never drifted far from her grip.
Blinkova actually landed a higher percentage of first serves, 67.5% to 62.5%, but that did not translate into points on serve. Raducanu won 72% of her first-serve points, while Blinkova won 29.6% of hers.
Queen's Restores Momentum
The result mattered because Raducanu had been sidelined by illness after reaching the third round in Indian Wells, then lost her opening matches in Strasbourg and Roland Garros before arriving at Queen’s. She is ranked No. 42 in the PIF WTA Rankings and entered London as the sixth seed.
Her run to the Queen’s quarterfinals last year remains her best grass-court result, so this opening win gives her a quicker start than she managed in the clay-court events that came before it. She also said afterward, “I feel like I started extremely well, and I think despite not having played a lot of matches,” and added, “I was really pleased with how I came out and was playing very free.”
Cirstea Awaits Next
Raducanu’s next test is No. 17 seed Sorana Cirstea, who beat qualifier Maddison Inglis 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. That sets up a tougher second-round match for Raducanu after a first-round performance that looked cleaner on the scoreboard than on serve percentages.
Elsewhere in the draw, Marta Kostyuk withdrew because of a right ankle injury, Donna Vekic came in as a lucky loser, and Katie Boulter rallied from a set and a break down to beat No. 8 seed Leylah Fernandez 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. Boulter next faces Jaqueline Cristian, while Vekic plays 17-year-old Briton Mika Stojsavljevic.
