Emma Raducanu’s quarter-final at Queen’s was brought to an unexpected halt after the roar of Trooping the Colour jets thundered overhead and forced play to stop.
The British No1 was facing Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova in the last eight of the WTA 500 event at the west London club when the annual military spectacle interrupted proceedings on the Andy Murray Arena.
With Queen’s Club sitting beneath the Heathrow flight path, the low-flying aircraft returning from the King’s Birthday Parade swept directly over the court, drowning out the action and leaving players and spectators with little choice but to pause.
The interruption came less than half an hour into the contest, with Raducanu serving at 2-2 in what had already developed into a tense opening set.
The 22-year-old appeared poised to edge ahead when the deafening sound of the first aircraft passed overhead.
Raducanu stood motionless on the baseline as the jet flew directly above the packed arena.
The world No42 attempted to resume play once the noise subsided, only for another aircraft to roar across the London skies moments later.
Eventually, it became clear that the match could not continue until the flypast had completely passed, with the famous Red Arrows among the aircraft soaring above west London following the conclusion of Trooping the Colour.
Emma Raducanu’s quarter-final at Queen’s was brought to an unexpected halt after the roar of Trooping the Colour jets thundered overhead and forced play to stop
The 22-year-old appeared poised to edge ahead when the deafening sound of the first aircraft passed overhead
As the crowd applauded the aerial display, attention quickly turned back to the tennis.
Raducanu regained her focus impressively, holding to love on her serve before punctuating the game with a determined fist pump.
The momentum remained firmly with the Briton as she broke Rakhimova to love in the following game before extending her advantage to 5-2 in the opening set.
Raducanu arrived in the quarter-finals full of confidence after defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-2 in the previous round, a victory that marked her first win over a top-20 opponent in more than a year.
Her clash with Rakhimova had been pushed back to Saturday after poor light compounded a rain-affected schedule earlier in the week.
Awaiting the winner in the semi-finals is American teenager Iva Jovic, with Raducanu bidding to continue her encouraging run on grass ahead of Wimbledon.
