Emma Raducanu sails into Queen's quarter-finals as Katie Boulter loses British number one ranking

Emma Raducanu's stellar start to the grass-court season continued as she strode into the quarter-finals of the Queen's Club Championships with a routine win over Rebecca Sramkova.

The 22-year-old dropped just three games en route to an opening victory over Cristina Bucsa in the first round, and she only lost another two in another convincing 6-4 6-1 success in one hour and 16 minutes.

Starting as she meant to continue, Raducanu surged into a 5-0 lead with a triple break, although Sramkova suddenly found a second wind as she earned two breaks back to cut the deficit down.

However, Raducanu quickly recomposed herself and held to love to see out the first set, and the second began in similar fashion, with the aggressive Briton forcing errors out of an increasingly exasperated Sramkova.

The Slovakian just about managed to avoid falling 5-0 down again, saving three break points in the fifth game, but she had only delayed the inevitable as Raducanu got the job done on her second match point.

The 2021 US Open winner will soon learn whether she will face top seed Zheng Qinwen or McCartney Kessler in the quarter-finals, but one thing is already for certain; she can once again proudly claim to be the British number one.

Raducanu overtakes Katie Boulter as compatriot knocked out

Raducanu leapfrogged doubles partner Katie Boulter in the WTA Rankings thanks to her compatriot's loss to Russia's Diana Shnaider, who fought back from a set down to take out the world number 34 in three.

Boulter came out all guns blazing but failed to maintain her early momentum in a 6-2 3-6 2-6 defeat to the world number 12, being made to pay for eight double faults across the second and third sets.

The British crowd were left disappointed again shortly afterwards, as the experienced Heather Watson fell to a straight-sets defeat to 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.

Watson pulled off a statement win over Rybakina's countrywoman Yulia Putintseva in the first round, but the big-serving Rybakina - who hit nine aces on the day - wrapped up a largely comfortable 6-4 6-2 win in one hour and 22 minutes.

Watson was not starved of opportunities to stun her 11th-ranked opponent, but Rybakina saved all seven break points she faced, including five while she was serving for the match.

Elsewhere, Dan Evans's run at the Libema Open in Rosmalen came to an end in a 5-7 3-6 loss to France's Ugo Humbert in the second round; the 35-year-old's first-round victory over Rinky Hijikata was his maiden ATP Tour win of 2025.

Written by
Ben Knapton