Lucky loser Donna Vekic produced a stunning performance to deny a resurgent Emma Raducanu a second career title with a 6-0, 7-6(6) victory at Queen’s Club in London on Sunday (14 June).
The 2024 Wimbledon semi-finalist was in her element on the grass surface as she steamrolled the home favourite in the opening set before winning a nail-biter second for her fifth WTA Tour singles title.
The Croatian tennis star hardly put a foot wrong in the opening set as she inflicted a bagel upon the 2021 US Open champion.
Raducanu has recently found some form and has been in fine fettle during this tournament, where she had not dropped a set until this meeting with the fiercely competitive Vekic.
Vekic dazzled with her shot selection, moving Raducanu around the court, and in the process breaking the Briton three times.
While Raducanu was thoroughly beaten in the first set, she came out fighting in the second, swinging the contest slightly in her favour.
The 23-year-old broke Vekic in the third, bringing the partisan Andy Murray Arena to their feet as the British tennis star’s confidence increased.
As Raducanu found her rhythm, unforced errors started to creep into Vekic’s game, and she began to look increasingly vulnerable.
Raducanu exploited the newly formed chink in Vekic’s armour and secured a double break before the Croat returned the favour in the next game.
Vekic, the Paris 2024 Olympic silver medallist in singles, erased Raducanu’s advantage and denied her the chance to serve out the set.
Raducanu then saved three championship points to hold serve and send the set into a tiebreaker.
The British star battled tenaciously to stay in the contest, but Vekic managed to find the edge to win the tiebreaker 8-6 to secure her first WTA Tour title since 2023.