Emma Raducanu suffers heartbreaking defeat in Queen’s final as brutal week takes toll | Tennis | Sport

Emma Raducanu suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the Queen’s final, as she was bagelled by lucky loser Donna Vekic, and then dropped five of the last six games to lose 6-0 7-6(6). The British No. 1 was contesting her third career final, and her first on home soil, but came up short in the championship match after what had been a gruelling run.

Raducanu’s matches throughout the week had been delayed by rain. On Saturday, she had to double up, beating Kamilla Rakhimova in the quarter-finals and returning around three hours later to take out No. 6 seed Iva Jovic. And it all seemed to catch up to her in the final.

The Brit still had large strapping on her inner left thigh when she took to the court, the result of a fall on the grass in the middle of Saturday’s quarter-final. Vekic got off to a strong start with a confident hold. And she broke immediately, ripping winners across the court to lead 2-0.

The thigh issue was taking its toll on Raducanu. Her movement wasn’t what it had been during the tournament, and she struggled to get down low to balls – something she’d done so well earlier in the tournament. A double fault gave Vekic another break point, and the lucky loser took it, needing just 14 minutes to race into a 4-0 lead.

The fans on the Andy Murray Arena tried to get behind Raducanu, but she couldn’t take advantage of an opening on Vekic’s serve, and the world No. 76 won a fifth straight game. Raducanu removed her strapping in the next changeover.

It didn’t help initially, though. Vekic proved relentless and took advantage of a Raducanu second serve, giving herself a set point. And she bagelled the Brit with a passing winner, taking the opener in less than half an hour.

The 23-year-old finally ended Vekic’s run of games at seven, and turned it on in the second set. After a worrying start, Raducanu got on the board and had a new lease of life, looking much more like she had earlier this week. She broke the lucky loser for the very first time as Vekic sent the ball into the net, and hit her racket in frustration.

Raducanu started moving freely, rushing to the net and defending perfectly as the fans grew louder and louder. Vibrations echoed around the Andy Murray Arena as the crowd stamped their feet on the stands. The errors kept coming for Vekic, and the crowd – and Raducanu – fed off it. The Brit gave herself another break point with a backhand winner, and roared when Vekic sent the ball long to give her a 5-2 lead.

The world No. 42 was broken when serving for the set, and had two set points on her serve when she tried to close it out again at 5-4. But Vekic broke to level the score, the momentum shifting again. The Croatian yelled in delight as she moved a game within the title.

Leading 6-5, Vekic sensed her opportunity, and some costly mistakes from Raducanu gave the lucky loser two championship points. Raducanu saved them both, and her entire box rose to their feet. Vekic gave herself another opportunity, sending a winner past the home hope. The Brit responded with a winner of her own to save it. Again, her support camp stood up. On her second game point, Raducanu managed to find a way out, forcing a tiebreak when the Croatian sent the ball long.

Andy Murray Arena erupted, with vibrations echoing through the stands as fans stomped their feet and applauded. Vekic was the first to get a mini-break, just finding the line for a winner. But she hit a double fault to relinquish her advantage, and suddenly they were level at 4-4.

At 5-5, Raducanu struggled to get the ball back in play after a tense rally, and Vekic had another championship point – this time on her own serve. But the British No. 1 refused to back down, nailing the ball side to side before Vekic put it in the net. Another one of the lucky loser’s shots caught the line, and it was a fifth championship point for Vekic. Raducanu fought tooth and nail to stay in the rally, but she was first to blink, pushing the ball wide and crouching to the ground in defeat as the lucky loser was crowned champion.

Raducanu has spent much of this week waiting around. Rain wreaked havoc on the schedule, but the British No. 1 seemed to feel the brunt of the delays. On Thursday, she was made to wait around until 6.30pm, when her match against Sorana Cirstea was finally cancelled.

She beat Cirstea on Friday morning and was expected to face Rakhimova in the quarter-finals later that evening. It was around 7.45pm by the time both players were told they wouldn’t get on court. And it meant Raducanu played twice in the space of seven hours on Saturday, only getting off court at 7pm – leaving her around 18 hours to recover for the final.

This is Vekic’s fifth career title, and her first since Monterrey 2023. The 29-year-old had not played a final since the Olympic Games two years ago, where she lost to Qinwen Zheng but came away with a silver medal.

A former top-20 player, the world No.76 is now set to return to the top 35, and both she and Raducanu have good chances of being seeded at Wimbledon later this month.

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