Queen’s Club Championships WTA Final Round-up | Donna Vekic prevails against Emma Raducanu as title drought prolongs

Emma Raducanu’s long wait for another WTA title goes on. She succumbs to a 6-0, 7-6(6) defeat to lucky loser Donna Vekic in the Queen’s Club Championships final.

Vekic produced a marvellous performance to fend off both Raducanu and the crowd who were passionately behind Raducanu throughout the whole match. She was the favourite going into the match but could not live up to that tag.

She is still on only one WTA title which was that magnificent US Open title won back in 2021. It is another step in the right direction after a great week on court in London. She has shown a lot of promise on grass but so has Vekic. The former Wimbledon semi-finalist did not even qualify for this tournament but was fortunate to earn a lifeline.

Vekic won the opening seven games of the match before Raducanu came back in the second set. Failing to serve it out twice, she saved a trio of championship points enroute to a tiebreak. With her fifth break point in a very closely fought tiebreak, she got over the line to seal the title at Queen's and a first WTA triumph since March 2023.

From the off Vekic was the one in command. It was obvious that she would be not just against Raducanu on court but against the partisan but non-hostile crowd, cheering on Raducanu. She held comfortably before breaking the Raducanu serve. The Croatian won 12 of the first 15 points in a very ominous start.

She kept that high level throughout the rest of the set as Raducanu started to challenge her a bit more. No break points were created as Vekic sealed a second break with the Brit not able to respond. Vekic got the first set done and dusted to complete a rampant bagel and capped off a brilliant first set.

She made it seven games on the bounce before Raducanu finally got the ball rolling. She held her serve before with a third break point broke the Vekic serve and finally had something to work off in this tie. The 23-year-old backed it up with a hard-fought hold of serve for some breathing space.

Raducanu sailed into a 5-2 lead with another break of serve and looked certain to send it to another set. Vekic failed to break from 0-40 ahead but was able to create another chance and was more clinical that time around. Two games later Raducanu had another chance to serve it out but again was met by a defiant Vekic. She saved two set points before getting level.

The 29-year-old made it four games in a row, knowing that a fifth would win her the title. 15-40 ahead, that prospect looked likely. Raducanu saved two match points before another championship point came and went in dramatic circumstances. She grinded out a tiebreak. Both players could not be separated throughout. Vekic created a fourth championship point at 6-5 but again failed to get over the line. A fifth one came along moments later, and finally she got the job done before collapsing to her knees in exhaustion and delight.