Emma Raducanu is through to her second final of the season after upsetting No. 6 seed Iva Jovic 6-2 6-2 at Queen’s. The British No. 1 has been on double duty, forced to play her quarter-final on Saturday after it was cancelled on Friday evening when other matches went long. But that didn’t bother her.
Raducanu defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3 7-5 earlier in the day, and sparked concerns when she slipped on the court in the middle of the second set, needing a medical timeout. She returned for the semi-final just under three hours later with new strapping on her left thigh.
But it never seemed to bother her, and she picked up exactly where she left off in her earlier match. Raducanu was quick out of the blocks, breaking the American teenager in the fourth game of the match as she hit back-to-back winners.
The world No. 19 received a medical timeout while trailing 1-4, and had some taping on her foot redone. The 18-year-old had beaten last year’s runner-up, Amanda Anisimova, in three sets in Friday’s quarter-final.
She then got back out to win a doubles match that went well into the evening – and it all seemed to be catching up with her. Jovic continued to struggle and Raducanu quickly had two set points on her serve.
The Brit nailed a forehand, and the American couldn’t get the ball back in play, losing the opener in 43 minutes. Raducanu refused to let up and broke again at the beginning of the second set as Jovic hit her first double fault.
Just when it seemed the Brit had taken control, Jovic finally ended her run of games at four as she broke to love. But the sixth seed was immediately broken again, handing Raducanu the advantage when she sent a forehand wide.
Raducanu had to save three more break points, but she managed to extend her lead to 4-1, the final in touching distance. Another break point came and went for Jovic, and the former US Open champion soon found herself a game from victory. And she earned one final break to book her spot in the final.
After beating Rakhimova at around 2.30pm, Raducanu sealed victory over Jovic less than five hours later, just before 7pm. The world No. 42 is now through to her third career final, and her first on home soil.
Raducanu takes on lucky loser Donna Vekic, who lost in the final round of qualifying to Anna Blinkova just six days ago. Olympic silver medallist Vekic got into the draw when Marta Kostyuk withdrew, and never looked back. The world No. 76 beat Katie Boulter 6-1 6-3 in the earlier semi-final. And this is her first final since the Paris 2024 Games.