It is hardly a drought to compare with our footballers across the Atlantic, but Emma Raducanu’s five years of hurt continues. Hurt being the operative word as, on the precipice of a first title since the US Open in 2021 – and on home soil at that – she was physically hampered in going down 6-0, 7-6 to Donna Vekic in the final of the HSBC Championships.
The well-heeled and Panama-hatted denizens of West London arrived hoping for a coronation at the Queen’s Club, a title which would have had huge significance for Raducanu in dislodging the gorilla that has been on her back since that night in New York.
The coronation initially looked like being a capitulation, but the 23-year-old dug in after the first-set wipeout, taking a 5-2 lead in the second and then saving four match points. That graft made it into a decent occasion for the fans, which felt like payback from Raducanu for the love showered on her this week.
‘I see how many people are rooting for me,’ said the British No1. ‘You see things written about you or spoken about you, but when you play at home you’re reminded how much support there actually is. It means a lot.’
Vekic spent her formative years training in London, so this was likewise a significant place to win the biggest title of her career. ‘Growing up on tour I was always jealous of the boys being able to play at this amazing club,’ said Vekic, who came into her press conference sipping a Pimm’s. ‘Thank you to everyone who made this happen.’ The Croat, a grass court specialist, will be a danger to anyone at Wimbledon.
Emma Raducanu suffered a painful defeat in the Queen’s final against Donna Vekic
For Raducanu, it appears much of the damage was done on a hectic Saturday when she beat Kamilla Rakhimova in the quarter-finals, then returned three hours later to take out world No19 Iva Jovic in the semis. That was a superb effort but came at a cost and that debt was collected in the final.
Against Rakhimova, Raducanu slipped and tweaked her thigh, which was then strapped up against Jovic. She did not seem hampered in producing one of her best displays in recent years but these things are often worse after a night’s sleep.
In the final – the first set especially – Raducanu’s movement was clearly affected, particularly when getting down to low balls, but she suggested it was as much general fatigue as the thigh specifically.
‘I have been dealing with a few niggles and doubling up yesterday, it’s not easy to recover from,’ she said. ‘On grass, these things can happen: you take a few slips.
‘But, yeah, fatigue, and you’re not driving up as much for your serve, which is a big thing on grass. It’s been an amazing week, but it’s also been a long week.’
After the first set the physio came out and removed that strapping from the thigh. Perhaps it was more comfortable without as there was certainly an uptick.
Raducanu’s demeanour moved from resigned to defiant and that smile, so much in evidence this week, made its first appearance of the final. The crowd were beginning to get their money’s worth and did their best to swell the tide.
If Raducanu could have snuck through to a decider perhaps the crowd and the adrenaline could have carried her to the title. But Vekic, initially shocked by the resurgence of her opponent, recentred herself and got the job done at the fourth time of asking, taking the tiebreak 8-6.
The British No1 took Vekic to a tie-break in the second set but fell to defeat
Vekic fell to the court in relief. Amid a tough year in which she dropped out of the top 100, this win will carry her back to 32nd. For all of her clean, flat hitting and potent serves, the origin of this victory owed much to chance: last Sunday Vekic was struck by illness and lost in qualifying, but by the time Marta Kostyuk pulled out on Tuesday to leave a spot open in the draw the antibiotics had done their work. The ‘lucky loser’ ended up a deserving winner. There was a Brit in her corner, too: David Felgate, Tim Henman’s former coach who mentored Vekic as a young girl and is helping out this grass season.
For Raducanu, this remains a terrific week’s work, a rubber-stamping of her decision to bring back Andrew Richardson, who coached her to the US Open title.
Despite all the tournaments missed through a viral illness this season, she has now made two finals: here and at the Transylvanian Open in February.
She is up to 31st in the rankings and so should be there or thereabouts for a seeding at Wimbledon. Raducanu is in theory due to play the Nottingham Open, which begins on Monday/today, but when that prospect was put to her she gave a grimace and replied: ‘We’ll see, we’ll see.’ A few hours later and she was officially scratched from the draw.
Expect her to resurface at Eastbourne.
