Emma Raducanu cruises to first-round win at Queen's – but greater test lies ahead

Independent

3 days ago

As starts to the British summer go, it doesn't get much better than an hour in-and-out under the west London sun. Refreshed and rejuvenated after a two-week break following the French Open – and a thrashing at the hands of Iga Swiatek – Emma Raducanu has all her sights set on a prosperous month with the pristine grass under her feet. And here at Queen's Club, sporting a claret outfit, she did not let slip a purple patch on court.
Will there be bigger tests than world No 112 Cristina Bucsa? Of course. A fortuitous draw still needs capitalising on, though, and Raducanu excelled and looked supremely at home in a 6-1, 6-2 demolition job. Yet, most strikingly of all, in a year which included a horrendous stalking ordeal, was how much she seemed to enjoy the limelight once again.
'I must say I was quite locked in today,' Raducanu said on-court afterwards. 'I'm still trying to find my groove on this surface. I actually lost to Cristina earlier in the year, so I was really trying to fight and get into the second round.
'It's incredibly special [to play at Queen's]. For us girls to have a tournament here, instead of watching on TV and seeing the men play, is really nice.'
It's a noteworthy fortnight for Raducanu, ahead of the habitual significance of a Wimbledon fortnight as a British player. Currently ranked 37 in the world, the 22-year-old is five spots away from a seeding at SW19, which would effectively hand her an easier route on paper to the third round. It is a benefit she has not exhibited since her 2022 season, when she was seeded at the Grand Slams purely as a result of her unfathomable 2021 US Open triumph.
As such, she's opted not to play at home in Nottingham (WTA 250) next week and has instead accepted a wild card at the higher-rated Berlin Open (WTA 500). The hope is that a strong run – likely semi-finals or further – either here at Queen's or next week in Germany, could be enough to crack that highly-coveted top-32.
Intriguingly, compatriot and doubles partner this week, Katie Boulter, is similarly eyeing a seeding at Wimbledon. Yet where Boulter toiled and stumbled to a tense first-round win in three sets earlier, Raducanu oozed composure and class. From the off, the 22-year-old was lasered in here.
She made her move early. With new coach Mark Petchey watching on, having hopped over quickly from Paris after commentary duties at Roland Garros, alongside old coach Nick Cavaday, the Briton dominated her opponent in the back-of-the-court exchanges, with her forehand cross-court thriving in particular.
An early break at 2-1 was secured with an old-school slice approach and volley put-away on the backhand side, triggering a Raducanu smile that was so endearing on that memorable run in New York.
A second break soon followed, Raducanu cracking her groundstrokes with venom and accuracy hand-in-hand, to the delight of a near-full Andy Murray Arena. Twenty-four minutes is all she needed to clinch the opening set.
She started the second set as she finished the first, buoyantly smashing two forehand winners off Bucsa's serve to set up an immediate break. The Spaniard, who admirably came through two rounds of qualifying, had little to no answers to Raducanu's consistency. A double break soon followed with a forehand volley put-away, before the Brit closed it out with a sumptuous cross-court backhand passing shot.
A greater test lies ahead, likely in the form of defending Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in round two on Thursday. That will give the biggest indication of where Raducanu's game is on the grass and whether a seeding is tangible for Wimbledon.
But on a positive day for the unseeded Brits as women's tennis returns to Queen's for the first time in 52 years – Heather Watson joined Boulter and Sonay Kartal in round two – Raducanu made the firmest impression. Her road to Wimbledon is off to a flier.