Latest news with #grassseason
CNA
16 hours ago
- Sport
- CNA
Krejcikova battles past Dart at windy Eastbourne, Raducanu survives scare
EASTBOURNE :Top seed Barbora Krejcikova saved two match points on the way to a 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5 victory over Briton Harriet Dart at the Eastbourne Open on Tuesday, only her second singles win of the grass season before her Wimbledon title defence begins. Czech Krejcikova, who returned to action last month after a back injury had kept her out of action since November, needed two hours and 40 minutes to secure the win at a breezy Devonshire Park. Having taken a scrappy opening set, Krejcikova continued to struggle with the wind and was involved in a heated exchange with the umpire after earning a time violation for taking too long on serve, with Dart taking advantage. The 124th-ranked Dart broke to level the set at 6-6 and sailed through the tiebreaker as Krejcikova's second serve faltered. Dart looked poised for victory when leading 5-3 in the decider and had two match points at 5-4 but her game disintegrated as Krejcikova dug deep. A deflated Dart let out a frustrated scream after losing her advantage and crumbled in her final service game as she was broken to love. "It was a really tough match and I expected that Harriet is going to play well because she's home favourite and she loves to play on grass," said Krejcikova, who suffered a first-round exit at Queen's Club last week. "So I expected it's going to be tough and to be honest, in that third set when I was down and having those two match points down, I was kind of already in the locker room mentally." Krejcikova faces either another Briton next in Jodie Burrage who beat Japan's Moyuka Uchijima. British number one Emma Raducanu looked like following Dart out as she struggled against American Ann Li but the former U.S. Open champion recovered to win 6-7(5) 6-3 6-1. "It was tough and there were lots of ups and downs but from middle of second set I managed to find an extra gear," an emotional Raducanu, who faces Australia's Maya Joint next, said.
Reuters
19 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Krejcikova battles past Dart at windy Eastbourne
June 24 (Reuters) - Barbora Krejcikova saved two match points on the way to a 6-3 6-7(4) 7-5 victory over Briton Harriet Dart at the Eastbourne Open on Tuesday, only her second singles win of the grass season before her Wimbledon title defence begins this month. Czech Krejcikova, who only returned to action last month after a back injury had kept her out of action since November, needed two hours and 40 minutes to secure the win. In windy conditions at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club, Krejcikova committed five double faults in the opening set and twice lost serve, but built up momentum after a couple of rain-enforced breaks to overpower Dart. Krejcikova continued to struggle with the wind in the second set and was involved in a heated exchange with the umpire after earning a time violation for taking too long on serve, with Dart taking advantage of her opponent's vulnerability. The 124th-ranked Dart broke to level the set at 6-6 and sailed through the tiebreaker as Krejcikova's second serve faltered. Dart also had the upper hand in the decider after breaking early and earning two match points, but the Wimbledon champion raised her level with her back against the wall and brought the set back on serve. A deflated Dart let out a frustrated scream after losing her advantage and crumbled in her final service game as she was broken to love. "It was a really tough match and I expected that Harriet is going to play well because she's home favourite and she loves to play on grass," said Krejcikova, who suffered a first-round exit at Queen's Club last week. "So I expected it's going to be tough and to be honest, in that third set when I was down and having those two match points down, I was kind of already in the locker room mentally." Krejcikova next faces either another Briton in Jodie Burrage, who defeated Japan's Moyuka Uchijima. Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell secured a 6-4 6-4 win over former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States.
Telegraph
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter to form doubles dream team at Queen's
Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu are to play doubles together for the first time in a British dream team at Queen's this week. British No 1 Boulter has confirmed that the pair plan to team up as women return to Queen's for the first time in more than 50 years. They will join forces alongside their commitments in the singles draw in order to maximise court time, as the grass season gets under way at the prestigious West Kensington club. 'I think myself and Emma, we've been wanting to play for a while now,' Boulter said on Sunday. 'I think we've talked about it a lot of times, and unfortunately, it just hasn't quite happened for various reasons. I think [for the] first week on grass, to get a couple more matches is super important. 'I think we were actually here at Queen's, practising on the clay, and we decided we thought we'd come back and play on the grass together. 'It'll be extremely special. Obviously, she's a great player, and I'm looking forward to having the first of many more.' Boulter, 28, and Raducanu, 22, have been neck-and-neck for the British No 1 spot this year, with the former set to move to a world ranking of No 34 on Monday and the latter just three spots behind her at No 37. Their campaigns at Queen's therefore will be hugely influential in their attempts to secure a ranked seeding for Wimbledon next month, which will go to the top 32 seeds. Raducanu faces a tough ask at Queen's though, having been drawn in the same half as top seed Zheng Qinwen, the reigning Olympic champion and world No 7. Should she progress from an opening round tie against a qualifier, Raducanu will come up against Barbora Krejcikova, last year's Wimbledon champion. Boulter will also face a qualifier in the first round with a potential meeting in the second round against fifth seed Diana Shnaider. The pair will then team up in the doubles to take on the Chinese duo of Wu Fang-Hsien Wu and Jiang Xinyu, with a potential meeting with fellow British team Jodie Burrage and Sonay Kartal on the cards. Other British players to have secured wildcards are Kartal, Burrage and Francesca Jones, who will all feature in the first women's championship at Queen's Club since 1973.
