“Right now it obviously really stings, so I’m just going to let myself feel it today but try to get over it pretty quick.” That was Emma Raducanu’s verdict after defeat in the Queen’s Championship final to an inspired Donna Vekic, as her wait for a first title since the US Open in 2021 continues. The 23-year-old was visibly disappointed as an erratic groundstroke handed over a 6-0 7-6 (8-6) victory – but she was also quick to note how significant, and positive, a week this was.
Getting over setbacks quickly, as she will now have to do to shrug off this disappointment, was the hallmark of several tenacious performances by the Briton in west London. Raducanu’s career so far has been dogged by a litany of injury woes and she looked to be heading down a familiar road as she slipped on the sodden grass in her quarter-final against Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova.
