Emma Raducanu has booked her place in the Queen’s final after winning back-to-back matches on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the Brit defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 7-5 to reach just her second semi-final at a professional grass-court event.
During that encounter, Raducanu suffered a nasty slip that required an off-court medical timeout before she returned with heavy strapping on her left thigh.
Just over three hours later, the world No 42 returned to court against American Iva Jovic and cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in front of a raucous home crowd.
This year’s HSBC Championships marks Raducanu’s third tour-level final, having previously reached the showpiece matches at the 2021 US Open – which she won – and this year’s Transylvania Open, where she fell to Sorana Cirstea.
As a result of her run in London this week, the Brit is also set to rise in the rankings and is guaranteed to climb to at least world No 31.
That move could prove crucial, given that the world’s top 32 players are guaranteed a seeded position at Wimbledon.
However, the British No 1 is not currently entered into any tournaments prior to Wimbledon, meaning that a seeded spot is not yet guaranteed.
Victory in the final would move Raducanu into the world’s top 30 and put her in a much stronger position ahead of her SW19 campaign.
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In the first semi-final, fellow Brit Katie Boulter was outclassed by Croat Donna Vekic 6-1, 6-3 in just 67 minutes.
Vekic has never faced Raducanu in singles competition and has not lifted a title since the 2023 Monterrey Open.
“It means everything for me to be doing it here at Queen’s in front of everyone,” Raducanu said during her on-court interview.
“The support today, the whole day, was electric, so thank you very much.”
Prior to the HSBC Championships, Raducanu had not won a match since her opening encounter at the Indian Wells Masters and had not recorded back-to-back victories since the beginning of February.
At the recent French Open, she was dominated 6-0, 7-6(4) by Argentine Solana Sierra in the opening round.
“Thanks for reminding me about that stat,” she joked.
“I think this week has been incredible. I really enjoy playing here, and I think that really shows in my tennis and in how I’ve been able to compete and come through some really tough moments.
“It means everything to make it to Sunday, and I really hope you guys can come and support me for one more match.
“Of course, if you ask any player – especially any Brit – they would love to lift the title here.
“Me and my team over there have really stuck together through some tough moments over the last few months, when the results haven’t been going our way. But we’ve been putting in the work day in, day out, and I want to take this opportunity to thank them as well for helping me get into this position.”
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