Katie Boulter gets Queen's campaign off to winning start with Raducanu
The 28-year-old teamed up with the 2021 US Open Champion to down Xinju Jiang and Fang-Hsien Wu 6-4 6-2 in their first round match at the LTA's HSBC Championships.
The tournament marked the first time since 1973 that a women's event has been held at The Queen's Club, and Boulter and Raducanu were the first Brits to grace the famous West Kensington courts.
And with a first victory under her belt on the grass this season, Boulter was thrilled to see such a strong start to their budding partnership.
"I'm obviously very pleased to get Emma's first ever win on the board for doubles," she said.
"I thought we played some very good tennis to say that it was our first time playing together. I thought the level was very high so I'm pleased to get our first grass court win this year."
The duo got off to a speedy start, immediately breaking their opponents in what looked like the start of a dominant performance.
Jiang and Wu later broke back and levelled the score to four games all but the British pair held and surged ahead once more to take the first 6-4.
The pair once again found their flow in the second set and won three games in a row to take the lead.
It meant that they were left to serve for the match and wrapped up their maiden doubles appearance together in style, sealing their spot in the second round.
"I think we serve and return very well and have good volleys," added Boulter. "If one of us hits a good ball then we're both going to capitalise on that so naturally I feel a lot more confident that Emma's going to put the ball away which is good.
"I think that we are just going to keep making it tough for our opponents and see what happens."
For the latest action on the British summer grass court season, check out the LTA website
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