2 days ago
Emma Raducanu celebrates new British No 1 status by saving home blushes at Queen's
No wonder Emma Raducanu started off her second-round contest at Queen's in a blaze of glory. Like a firecracker, ready to ignite, eager to land in Friday's quarter-finals.
A few hours earlier, the 22-year-old learned that, when the new WTA rankings are released on Monday, she will be back as British No 1. Raducanu will replace Katie Boulter, her 'BoulterCanu' doubles partner this week, at the top of British women's tennis. A blessing or a curse? Either way, it's all just in time for all the hoopla and hype of Wimbledon in a few weeks' time.
Yet to Thursday and west London, where she still had matters to attend to on-court in the form of Slovak world No 31 Rebecca Sramkova, who sits six places above her in the world rankings. And, in essence, what the near sell-out crowd were greeted to was a 76-minute nutshell of what makes Raducanu such a thrilling prospect on the grass. Thrilling, and baffling, in somewhat equal measure.
The good? A scintillating opening 20 minutes, steamrolling to a 5-0 lead, middling every shot and taking impressive control of every rally. There was, undoubtedly, an oomph in her movement and persona. The bad? In an instant, she lost her mojo, was broken twice, and ultimately only squeezed to the first-set finish line, 6-4. Fortunately, the second set was more routine as Sramkova buckled, and a 6-4 6-1 victory in the end just reward for a lightning quick start.
'Long live BoulterCanu,' she wrote on the courtside camera, a nod to her doubles partnership this week and a close-knit group of British women at the top of the game currently.
'It's nice, but it's not the most important thing for me,' she said afterwards, questioned about the No 1 spot. 'Having Katie in front, it was nice having something to chase. She now has that. We have a healthy competition between us, but we want to see each other do well.'
Up until that point, it had been a tough day for the Brits on day four. Boulter, who has held the British No 1 tag for exactly two years, started strongly against world No 10 Diana Shnaider by taking the opening set, describing it later as her 'best tennis of the week.'
But the match quickly turned in the Russian's favour, particularly after a brief rain break halfway through the second set. In the end, Shnaider romped home to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory to set up a clash with Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the last eight. Boulter, understandably for a match which seemed well within her grasp, was exasperated by the end.
Heather Watson soon followed, with the 33-year-old (now ranked 134 in the world) having come through qualifying to reach the main draw. The Guernsey local impressed in a straight-sets win over Yulia Putintseva on Tuesday but, with 123 places between them, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina was too strong in round two, progressing with a relatively routine 6-4, 6-2 win.
Still, Watson can be proud of her efforts, as she keeps her fingers crossed for a Wimbledon wild card when they are announced next week. 'I'm praying over here,' she admitted afterwards. 'It would be a gift.'
It was therefore up to Raducanu, the last Brit standing, to keep British hopes alive. Swinging from the hip like someone who had a looming dinner reservation in Kensington tonight, she grabbed the initiative impressively, against a player who beat the defending Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round.
Three breaks in a row were accompanied by regular 'Come on' screams towards her box, with Mark Petchey and Nick Cavaday her dual coaches in her corner. Annabel Croft, on commentary for the BBC, described her start as 'breathtaking.'
Yet a stunning opening 20 minutes was followed by a curiously inconsistent 15 minutes, in which she let two breaks of serve slip and errors enter her realm. Mercifully, she held at 5-4.
The second set was more a case of remaining solid while Smarkova crumbled, regularly gesticulating towards her corner and, by the end, with her head literally in her hands after a routine miss. Two powerful backhand returns sealed the deal for Raducan, to the delight of the home crowd.
It means Raducanu will be back on Friday, likely to take on first seed Qinwen Zheng in the quarter-finals. Now that, an Olympic champion and world No 5, will be a serious – and perfect – test of her grass court credentials just two weeks out from Wimbledon.
