(VIDEO) Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova kick off the grass courts at Queen’s Club Championships

Everything is ready for the start of the grass swing at the Queen’s Club Championships, and two of the tournament’s main figures — Emma Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova — were on court together, sharing a high-level training session ahead of the start of the tournament.

The former US Open champion has recorded only one win in her last seven matches. Since she reached the final of the Cluj-Napoca Open in early February, the British player has dealt with injuries and periods of absence that have kept her away from the courts and caused her to lose consistency on the tour.

In fact, Raducanu has only played two clay-court tournaments — Strasbourg Open and Roland Garros — in both cases losing in the first round, which ultimately led to a ranking drop that currently places her at No. 42 as of Monday, June 8.

On the other hand, Anisimova suffered a disappointing third-round defeat at the French Open, after having match points in her favour, eventually losing to local player Diane Parry in a third-set tiebreak. The 6th seed arrived as one of the favourites, but was unable to even reach the second week.

For Anisimova in particular, this grass swing will be key for her ranking and ambitions. The American reached the Wimbledon final last year and will be defending a significant number of points in the coming weeks, which could even put her top-10 position at risk.

Her first major challenge will be at Queen’s, where she received a bye in the first round as the 2nd seed, and is still waiting to learn her opponent. She will face the winner of Laura Siegemund and local wildcard Francesca Jones.

On the other side, Raducanu — who is not seeded in the tournament — will begin against a qualifier, while a potential second-round matchup could pit her against 7th seed Sorana Cîrstea, in what would be a rematch of their Transylvania final in February.

Both Cîrstea and Raducanu will first need to overcome qualifiers, among whom are defending champion Tatjana Maria, Donna Vekić, and Polina Kudermetova, among others still in contention.

A recent tournament video shows Raducanu and Anisimova competing in a training match on the grass courts of the HSBC Championships at Queen’s, marking the first grass-court tournament for several of the WTA Tour’s biggest names after the end of the clay swing.

Anisimova and Raducanu have met four times before — the most recent earlier this year at Indian Wells, where Anisimova claimed victory in straight sets. Raducanu won their first two encounters (Australian Open and Miami Open 2025), but Anisimova has since taken control, with Raducanu managing to win only five games across their last two matches (Canadian Open 2025 and Indian Wells 2026).

Among other players in the tournament are Elena Rybakina, Victoria Mboko, Belinda Bencic, Marta Kostyuk and Iva Jovic.

In total, there are 7 top-20 players and 14 players inside the WTA top 40. Leylah Fernandez, Alexandra Eala, Maria Sakkari, Raducanu and Qinwen Zheng are among the names to watch in a tournament that represents one of the key grass-court events in the weeks leading up to Wimbledon.