Emma Raducanu crashes out at Queen's after 'breaking rule' against Qinwen Zheng
Emma Raducanu lost in straight sets to Qinwen Zheng as she crashed out of Queen's at the quarter-final stage, having earlier pushed her luck during a break in play
Emma Raducanu's hopes of triumphing at Queen's are over after she was sent packing in straight sets by Qinwen Zheng on Friday afternoon. The new British No.1 needed a medical timeout for a nagging back problem before succumbing to the Olympic champion 6-2 6-4 on the hottest day of the year.
Raducanu lost the first set 6-2, but broke the Chinese twice at the start of the second to take a 3-0 lead. However, the world No.5 fought back impressively, winning six of the next seven games to emerge victorious in one hour and 50 minutes.
All the British players are now out of the singles and world No.37 Raducanu is now 0-6 in quarter-finals in WTA 500 events.
Zheng said: "I played really good today. It was really difficult, she's got more experience than me. I'm proud to be in my first semi-final on grass. I want to apologise for my shoes. I don't know how to run on grass!
"I still don't know when I have to change to grass shoes. I think now is the time because I feel much better to run. I have to keep my game more focused because I started really slow in the second set. Just happy to get the win.
Earlier in the afternoon, Raducanu did something she 'was not meant to do' during the break in play mentioned by Zheng. The Brit was kept waiting by her Chinese opponent in the first set and she pushed her luck with the chair umpire by taking an opportunity to stay sharp.
Zheng led 3-2 and was threatening to break Raducanu's serve, when she halted the match, returned to her seat and changed shoes. Raducanu stood, waited for about a minute, then smashed a practice serve down the court before Zheng had returned to the baseline.
USTA rules state that 'a player should take all warm-up serves before the first serve of the match' - and while chair umpires are given a level of discretion with such incidents, BBC commentator Annabel Croft quickly recognised Raducanu had done something that could have left her in a spot of bother.
She said: "I don't know if Raducanu is meant to hit a ball like that. She's just practiced a serve and normally you're not meant to do that!"
During the mid-match interruption, spectators made their feelings clear, booing and voicing their disapproval as Zheng held up proceedings. The 22-year-old held up a hand of apology before clinching the set 6-2.
Zheng halted the game once more in the third set due to an issue with her racket - a situation which left Raducanu further perplexed. But the top seed ultimately proved too good for the home favourite, winning comfortably to book a final four place.
Nevertheless, Raducanu's run to the last eight has ensured she will be British No.1 once more after the tournament, dropping Katie Boulter down to No.2. Raducanu downplayed the importance of the rankings shift before facing Zheng.
"Tennis is a funny one," she said. "You know, some people lose 250 points one week, some people lose zero, some people lose 100. It's something that happens every single week."
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