“It was just amazing to play at home”: Emma Raducanu reflects on emotional surge despite Queen’s final defeat

Emma Raducanu took positive conclusions from her run at the Queen’s Club Championships, despite the defeat in the final against Donna Vekic. The former US Open champion played her second final of the season and the third of her career, but ended empty-handed after falling 0-6, 6-7 against the experienced Croatian.

Raducanu recorded four consecutive wins during the week, clearing the path against strong opponents such as Sorana Cirstea and Iva Jovic. The Brit had not dropped a set on her way through the draw, but against Vekic she ran out of fuel, conceding a bagel in the first set and falling in the details of the second-set tie-break.

“I think Donna played a great match from the start to the finish and I think she played great yesterday as well against Katie (Boulter) and it was tough to take for sure,” she said in press conference. “But I had a good week here and it was just amazing to play at home.”

The British No. 1 also gained ground in the rankings up to No. 31, positioning herself as seeded for the next Wimbledon, which will allow her to avoid top-30 players in the early rounds.

Raducanu reached her second final of the season and the third of her career. Since the 2021 US Open, Raducanu had not reached another final, a drought that was broken in February this year at the Transylvania Open—her first WTA 250 final—but she lost again to Sorana Cirstea.

This time, Raducanu once again had the chance to win a title—this time on grass courts against Donna Vekic. However, after playing two matches on Saturday—quarter-final and semi-final—she ran out of energy on Sunday, where she was overpowered by Vekic’s experience, who won 6-0, 7-5 to claim the first WTA 500 title of her career.

“I think I played really well this week. I think I'm playing pretty freely, pretty aggressively but finding the right balance, returning and serving pretty well. It's important on grass and it's just nice to have the team that I do.”

“I actually felt bad because there were so many things in my head and people to thank,” she added about the trophy ceremony. “I think I forgot to mention them out there in the trophy presentation.”

Raducanu recently reunited with Andrew Richardson, the same coach who guided her to her unexpected US Open title, but with whom she parted ways shortly after winning her first major. After multiple coaching changes—and several short-term appointments—she recently reconnected with Richardson, something that quickly brought results.

“They have helped me through some really sticky situations in the past few months and it honestly means the world to me for them to believe unconditionally,” she said about Richardson and the rest of her team returning. “So yeah, I wouldn't be here also without them.”

The former top-10 player highlighted this week as particularly special due to playing at home and reaching this stage of a tournament in Britain for the first time. Although she did not win the title, Raducanu described it as one of the most significant weeks of her career.

“It's incredibly special. Playing at home there's no feeling like it. I was so in awe of the atmosphere, in awe of the support I received all week,” she said. “I couldn't really believe it, it just trumps anything that you ever really think of. So for that I'm really grateful and I just see how many people are really behind and rooting for me.”

Despite a notable week for the 23-year-old—reaching her first WTA 500 final—Raducanu acknowledged that it does not change her broader perspective heading into the grass-court swing. “I think I've been doing the same thing every day on the clay. I just didn't have the results but I was applying myself the best I possibly could each day even when I didn't necessarily feel like it.”

“Even when I felt down about the results I kept showing up and it was great to see the result of that this week,” she added. “I think of course going into Wimbledon you want as many matches on grass as possible and this week was great. I played five matches on grass.”

The Brit confirmed she would withdraw from the Nottingham Open, which began this week, adjusting her schedule in order to arrive at Wimbledon in optimal condition. She will enter Wimbledon as the 29th seed at the third Grand Slam of the season, where she will aim for a deep run in front of her home crowd.