Resurgent Raducanu Wins Twice to Race Into Queen’s Club Final

By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, June 13, 2026
Photo credit: Luke Walker/Getty for LTA

Changing direction decisively, Emma Raducanu has reignited her season on home soil.

A dynamic Raducanu dismissed Iva Jovic, 6-2, 6-2, to roar into her maiden grass-court final with her second win of the day at Queen’s Club in London today.

It is Raducanu’s second final of the season following her run to the Transylvania Open final in February where she lost to Sorana Cirstea.

The 23-year-old Briton will try to hoist her hometown trophy on Andy Murray Arena tomorrow when she meets Donna Vekic.

The 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist Vekic won 23 of 25 first-serve points, crushing Katie Boulter 6-1, 6-3 earlier today.

“It means everything be doing this here at Queen’s,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview. “The whole day has been electric.

“This week has been incredible, I really enjoy playing here and that shows in my tennis.

“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 have been putting in the hard work and I want to thank my team for helping me get into the final.”

Lucky loser Vekic powered into her first Tour-level final since her run to the 2024 Paris Olympics gold-medal match where she fell to China’s Zheng Qinwen. Vekic, who gained entry into the Queen’s Club main draw after fifth-seeded Marta Kostyuk withdrew,  is the first lucky loser to reach the Queen’s Club final.

Reuniting with coach Andrew Richardson, who guided her to the 2021 US Open championship, Raducanu has not dropped a set in four tournament victories—including two straight-sets wins today—en route to her third final.

Raducanu conquered Cirstea in the second round then did double duty today.

First, she defeated lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-3, 7-5, in the quarterfinals before returning to Andy Murray Arena in later afternoon to face Jovic.

Playing proactive tennis, Raducanu whipped down the line drives off both wings to put the 18-year-old Jovic on the defensive behind the baseline. 

Raducanu raced out to 4-1 leads in both sets today.

Changing direction decisively, Raducanu rapped a forehand strike down the line sealing the 43-minute opening set with a clenched fist toward her box.

Aggressive court positioning helped Raducanu apply pressure on the American’s serve. Creeping forward to attack a second-serve return, Raducanu exploited a  Jovic double fault off the tape to break for a 2-0 second-set lead.

World No. 42 Raducanu saved a break point holding for 5-2 and surged through seven of the last eight points for her third career final.

At the 2021 US Open, Raducanu made history as the first player—male or female—to play through qualifying and win a Grand Slam singles championship.

Since then, Raducanu has struggled to recapture that Flushing Meadows form. The London resident has also cycled through coaches at the rate some players change racquets. Raducanu split with coach Francisco Roig after falling to Anastasia Potapova in the Australian Open second round last January. Roig was the ninth coach of Raducanu’s career. She said prior to that split she wanted to adopt a more assertive playing style. 

Today, Raducanu returned to the style of play that helped her rule Flushing Meadows.

Repeatedly sliding the wide serve in both boxes to open the court, Raducanu frequently stepped in to take assertive first strikes and finished at net at times.

It all added up to a 91-minute triumph over Jovic and a final return.