Britain’s Emma Raducanu produced two superb victories in a day at Queen’s to reach her first grass-court final.<\/p>\n
Raducanu overcame an injury scare to beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3 7-5 in her weather-delayed quarter-final early on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
She returned to Andy Murray Arena a little over two and a half hours later and dispatched highly-rated American teenager Iva Jovic 6-2 6-2.<\/p>\n
The British number one, who went into Queen’s seeking to regain her form after a season disrupted by illness and injury, jumped for joy on sealing her victory as the crowd rose to applaud her.<\/p>\n
In Sunday’s final – which you can watch live on BBC One from 13:15 BST – the 23-year-old will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic, who beat British number three Katie Boulter in straight sets.<\/p>\n
Raducanu has not dropped a set on her run to the final and has thrived on the pressure of being the home favourite, beating two players ranked in the world’s top 20.<\/p>\n
Her success this week has boosted her chances of being seeded for Wimbledon, which starts on 29 June, and comes after she rehired Andrew Richardson, the man who helped her claim her historic US Open title in 2021, as her coach in May.<\/p>\n
“It means everything to be doing this here at Queen’s,” she told BBC TV. “The whole day has been electric.<\/p>\n
“This week has been incredible, I really enjoy playing here and that shows in my tennis. <\/p>\n
“Ask any British player and they would love to lift the title here. We’ve been through some tough moments in the last few months but we have been putting in the hard work and I want to thank my team for helping me get into the final.”<\/p>\n
The quality of Raducanu’s performance reminded former British number one Annabel Croft of her Grand Slam triumph as a qualifier five years ago.<\/p>\n
“I haven’t seen Emma strike the ball as well as this since the US Open,” said Croft on BBC TV. “It was a tougher semi-final than the scoreline suggests but she has been the one who has been mentally stronger.<\/p>\n
“There was such resilience from her, it was flawless. The level was extraordinarily high at the start from both of them but Emma always had the upper hand, especially with her serve.<\/p>\n
“She didn’t back away from any tough moments and turned games around when she was struggling.”<\/p>\n
Boulter’s hopes of making it an all-British final were ended with a 6-1 6-3 loss to world number 76 Vekic.<\/p>\n