Emma Raducanu Makes Strong Start on Home Grass Courts at Queen’s Club Championships

Sixteen days after losing in the opening round of the French Open, Emma Raducanu earned her first win in three months at the grass-court Queen’s Club Championships in London. The home tournament gave the 23-year-old a platform to gain confidence following a poor run of form since March.

At Strasbourg and Roland Garros, Raducanu appeared to lack both energy and confidence, showing little intensity on the court. The two consecutive losses were against players ranked below her on tour, and the performance was worrying. But the former World No.10 has put all that behind her in this grass court season.

She kicked off her Queen’s Club Championships campaign with an excellent win over Anna Blinkova at the Andy Murray Arena. She gave a dominant display in the first set of the tie, as she didn’t drop a game against the Russian star. In the second set, Blinkova reacted perfectly, pushing Raducanu deep into her baseline.

Blinkova fought back after being broken to tie the match 3-3 before a slight delay. When play resumed, Raducanu swept aside the Russian star 6-0, 6-3 to win her first match since overcoming Anastasia Zakharova in the first round of the Indian Wells Open in March. It was also her third match in three months.

Raducanu’s 2026 season was disrupted for months after she suffered a viral illness at the Miami Open. She was forced to withdraw from several tournaments, including the Madrid Open and the Italian Open. After the match victory in Queen’s, Raducanu admitted that the home atmosphere played a crucial role in her win against Blinkova:

We’ve been working day in, day out since I started training again and even throughout the clay season we’ve been working and putting good shifts in each day. You don’t know when it’s going to pay off and I think it’s just work that’s compounded over the last few weeks. I was really feeding off the atmosphere and it felt free, it felt clear, a lot of clarity and not necessarily thinking too much, not trying to do too much. It felt very natural.

Raducanu will hope to continue with her form at the Queen’s Club Championships. The last time she won three consecutive matches was at the Transylvania Open in February, where she reached the final before losing to home favorite Sorana Cirstea in straight sets in Romania.

Emma Raducanu admits she plays her best tennis during the grass court season

Emma Raducanu has made some difficult decisions in her career in the last couple of months. She parted ways with Rafael Nadal’s ex-coach, Francisco Roig, in January and then played on tour without a coach for over one month. In May, she decided to reunite with former coach Andrew Richardson, who helped her win her only career title at the 2021 US Open.

Those decisions have led to inconsistent on-court performance and a lack of rhythm in her game. But things could change for her during this grass-court season, where she feels comfortable playing. She revealed during the aforementioned press conference that she enjoys playing her best brand of tennis on grass:

The way I was feeling on the court, the way I was moving, the way I was expressing myself, just the whole package – not necessarily the tennis – just how I kind of was acting on the court, I really enjoyed it. I love playing on grass. I think I’ve had a lot of good years on the grass and playing at home also brings a really good side out of me. I’m really enjoying being a part of this atmosphere. I think it suits me.

Last year, Raducanu reached the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships before losing to Qinwen Zheng. The British star will not face the Olympic gold-medal winner after crashing out in the first round. However, her primary goal will be to climb into the top 32 of the WTA rankings, which would give her a seeded position at Grand Slam tournaments.

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