Emma Raducanu shrugged off a “tough” injury scare as she battled into the Queen’s Championships semi-finals on Saturday.
The British No 1 beat Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3 7-5 in a match delayed by a day after heavy rain in west London.
It means she will have to play her semi-final, against American teenager Iva Jovic, later on Saturday.
She needed three match points to see off Russian-born world No 78 Rakhimova in a tense service game, screaming with delight as she booked her place in the last four.
The 23-year-old said: “It was a match of ups and downs, I’m really grateful for the support I had in some really tough moments, and closing out that second set.”
Both she and Katie Boulter reached the semi-finals in a strong week for British tennis, Boulter sealing her biggest win by ranking, over world No 2 and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina, late on Friday.
Raducanu said: “I think it’s incredible. We all love playing on the grass, and it shows, me and Katie are in the semis and we play doubles here as well. It’s great to see and great for the tournament. Really wishing her well and hoping I can do the same.”
Unfortunately Boulter could not guarantee a British finalist as – perhaps struggling after a mammoth day on Friday, in which she had to play two matches – she fell 6-1 6-3 to Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Raducanu’s quarter-final was briefly interrupted by the King’s birthday flypast and also by a medical timeout when she was up a set and a break in the second set and slipped on the grass, which has caused problems for several players this week, with Canada’s Victoria Mboko out for the rest of the grass-court season after falling earlier this week.
Raducanu returned to the court with strapping on her left thigh, which she later removed, and initially struggled to shake off the fear and nerves of slipping again.
She said: “Right now it’s a mix of adrenaline. It was tough to take that, I felt like I was in a pretty good spot in the match. On grass these things can happen. I found it pretty tough to regroup but I’m really proud of how I did that with the help of you guys.”
The 23-year-old, who missed two and a half months of tennis with a post-viral illness earlier this season, has bounced back from a disappointing first-round exit at the French Open to match her best WTA Tour-level result on grass. It also matched her career-best result at a WTA 500 event, her semi-final run at Washington 2025.
Raducanu opened with an ace, then dug herself out of trouble after three double-faults to hold her serve, before breaking her opponent’s at the first time of asking.
Rakhimova broke back immediately, then brought the set level at two games apiece.
Raducanu was up 40-0 in the fifth game when it was paused for about five minutes for the flypast, as a series of aircraft thundered overhead. The serving Briton initially looked baffled then started to smile, breaking into a laugh along with the crowd as her serve was interrupted once again.
The confusion continued, the umpire at one point having informed those curious that “it’s definitely going to be the Red Arrows at some point” but it was unclear when.
They finally did appear, Raducanu now fully embracing the spectacle as she pointed to the planes whizzing overhead before – finally – getting to serve and holding Rakhimova to love.
She was up a break after the next game, and there was another hold to love to secure the first set.
Whatever unsteadiness had plagued the Briton to begin the match had faded away by the second, going up a break immediately. Raducanu was leading the second set 3-1 when, after securing the first point of the fifth game, she slipped behind the baseline, initially carrying on but, after Rakhimova reduced the deficit to one, called for a medical time out.
She returned with substantial strapping on her left thigh, saving three break points before a double-fault opened up a window for her opponent – and Rakhimova took advantage to bring the set back level.
The wrapping came off Raducanu’s thigh with Rakhimova leading 4-3, the Briton quickly held to love to bring the match back level, then battled through a difficult ninth game to go up a break.
The pair exchanged breaks, and resilient Rakhimova fended off two match points before Raducanu – who bowed out in the quarter-finals in 2025 – was finally able to secure her place in the last four.
