Relaxed Raducanu wins on ‘home turf’ at Queen’s

A relaxed-looking Emma Raducanu began her grass-court singles campaign with an impressive straight-sets victory over Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa at Queen’s.

The Briton smiled and interacted with the crowd as she secured a 6-1 6-2 victory on the Andy Murray Arena.

Raducanu needed just one hour and five minutes to breeze past world number 112 Bucsa and said it felt “incredibly special” to be playing at the home tournament.

“For us girls to have this tournament here finally, after watching the TV and seeing the men play [here], is really nice,” said Raducanu.

The world number 37 is one of four women remaining in the tournament bidding to become the first Briton to win the women’s title at Queen’s Club since Ann Jones in 1969.

Her progression to the last 16 follows that of Katie Boulter and Heather Watson earlier on Tuesday and Sonay Kartal on day one.

British number one Boulter overcame a stern 7-6 (7-4) 1-6 6-4 test against Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic after Watson beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to set up a last-16 meeting with fourth seed Elena Rybakina.

It has been a difficult 12 months for Raducanu.

Left feeling “wary” after being targeted by a stalker during a match in Dubai, she has also had a period of uncertainty with frequent changes to her coaches and a series of back problems that have at times kept her sidelined.

But the 2021 US Open champion has started this grass-court season with a more familiar and stable set-up, including the return to her team of former coach Nick Cavaday.

She has also been “managing” the back issues and looked physically and mentally at ease in her maiden singles match at Queen’s.

Raducanu has played down her expectations at the tournament but, having got a feel for the grass alongside Boulter in their doubles victory on Monday, quickly made herself at home to the delight of a partisan crowd.

Cries of “Emma, we love you!” could be heard from fans throughout, while Raducanu returned the love by cheering and smiling towards the crowd after winning points and signing the camera lens “home turf” with a smiley face after her victory.

The heavily scrutinised Raducanu would surely benefit from a run at a tournament where she has quickly become comfortable but tougher tasks lie ahead.

Boulter said she had “dreamt” of playing at a Queen’s tournament after she came through a match filled with twists and turns against Tomljanovic.

After years of watching the men’s tournament, the 28-year-old said it was “special” to play in the inaugural women’s WTA 500 event at the iconic venue.

“I came out yesterday to watch Andy get his first court [named after him], which is special in itself,” she said.

“To get the women back here feels very special. It’s actually something I dreamt of, having come here the last couple of years to watch the men play, so I’m just really grateful to be on this court.”

In her first singles match of the season on the surface, Boulter navigated a tricky hold where she saw off break points before impressively breaking to love, but missed the opportunity at 5-4 to serve out the set.

Instead, Boulter relied on her serve to get her out of trouble in the first-set tie-break, smashing a forehand winner to take the set in just over an hour.

But things spiralled rapidly for Boulter in set two as she struggled to find any rhythm, falling down a double break and struggling to find the answers.

And, having relied so heavily on a strong serve in the first set, she double-faulted on the first point of the opening game in the decider, laying the foundations for Tomljanovic to break.

Now on a run of six games without a win for Boulter, the home crowd was flat and struggled to provide the Briton with the boost she needed.

That came soon after, though, as Boulter immediately broke back and rediscovered some momentum to win three games in a row.

More to-ing and fro-ing followed as neither player could hold their serve but Boulter eventually kept her calm at 4-4, holding serve before taking the match when Tomljanovic’s forehand dropped long.