Raducanu and Boulter Secure Quarter-Final Spots at Queen's
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter will each compete twice in one day at the Queen's Club after both British players secured notable victories to advance to the quarter-finals.
Raducanu recorded her first win against a top-20 player in over a year by defeating Romanian world number 18 Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-2.
This victory marked a significant achievement for Raducanu, who had previously been defeated by Cirstea in the Transylvania Open final in February. The 23-year-old had not won consecutive matches since that tournament four months prior.
The former US Open champion is set to face Kamilla Rakhimova for a place in the semi-finals. Rakhimova, a Russian-born Uzbek player, overcame Britain's Harriet Dart 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in a match lasting nearly three hours.
Katie Boulter reached the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-3 win over world number 38 Jaqueline Cristian. The 29-year-old completed the match in just 67 minutes and will meet top seed Elena Rybakina in the next round.
Rybakina, a former Wimbledon champion from Kazakhstan, fought back to defeat defending champion Tatjana Maria 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-0 in a contest lasting two hours and ten minutes.
Due to rain on Thursday, no matches were played at Queen's, requiring all four quarter-finals to be contested on Friday.
Raducanu Reflects on Her Victory
This win was another encouraging result for Raducanu, whose opening victory on home soil against Anna Blinkova marked her first win since Indian Wells in March.
The British number one’s season has been disrupted by a post-viral illness that sidelined her from the WTA Tour for over two months. Upon her return, she lost her only two matches at Strasbourg and the French Open before this tournament.
Earlier in the year, Raducanu was comprehensively defeated by Cirstea in Romania, losing 6-0, 6-2. However, she quickly asserted herself in front of the home crowd in London, racing to a 4-0 lead. After Cirstea broke back once in the first set, Raducanu secured two break points in the second set and served out the match without difficulty.
"It feels incredible to come out and play how I did today against Sorana. Earlier in the year she beat me, but I'm really glad I could get her back at home," Raducanu said.
"I think I played at a really high level, I knew I had to go out and play aggressively and dictate.
As soon as I took my foot off the gas a little bit, she was coming back."
