Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, stepped onto the grass courts of London’s Queen’s Club on June 9, 2025, and delivered a moment that will be etched in tennis history. In a landmark event—the first women’s tournament at the prestigious venue in over 50 years—Raducanu, alongside British No. 1 Katie Boulter, clinched a commanding 6-4, 6-2 victory in their opening doubles match against China’s Xinyu Jiang and Taiwan’s Fang-Hsien Wu. The win marked a triumphant return to grass for Raducanu, but it was her candid post-match confession that captured hearts. “I was actually very nervous before the match,” she admitted. “I don’t know if Katie could tell. Probably more nervous than the singles, because I just didn’t really necessarily know what to do, but I’m really happy once we got out there.”
The Queen’s Club Championships, a WTA 500 event, represent a groundbreaking moment for women’s tennis, with a record-breaking £1 million ($1.415 million) prize fund—the highest for a tournament of its size. Raducanu, ranked world No. 37, and Boulter, No. 34, seized the opportunity to shine on home soil, their synergy evident as they broke their opponents twice in the second set to seal the match. The intimate setting of Court No. 1, renamed the Andy Murray Arena, amplified the electric atmosphere, with fans queuing for an hour to witness the British duo’s debut. “I think sometimes on the smaller courts you get a bigger feel for the match and the atmosphere and the environment because it’s a lot closer, more intimate, and you hear the support more,” Raducanu said, recounting a moment where she bantered with spectators while filling her water bottle. “I love playing on those smaller, outside courts where you really feel the support and the crowd gets into it.”
For Raducanu, the match was deeply personal. As a child, she visited Queen’s with her father, more interested in the venue’s chocolate brownies than the ATP matches. “When I came with my dad, I was more hunting the brownies around the grounds and not so interested in the tennis!” she laughed. “To be back now and competing in it feels amazing.” The event’s historical weight was not lost on her; she met Olga Morozova, the last women’s champion at Queen’s in 1973, who coached her as a young teenager. “I just met the last winner here, Olga Morozova, who actually coached me when I was 12, 13 years old,” Raducanu shared. “It’s a great chance for women to showcase themselves out there.”
The victory comes amid a challenging year for Raducanu, who has battled persistent back spasms and a stalking ordeal in Dubai that left her “wary” in public. “I have had a small interruption with a back spasm again so that was a bit annoying,” she revealed, noting how the injury disrupted her grass-court preparation. Yet, her reunion with childhood coach Nick Cavaday, alongside current coach Mark Petchey, has restored stability. “I’m happy to see him healthy first of all,” she said of Cavaday, who stepped away earlier in 2025 for health reasons. “I trust them both a lot.” Her 2025 season has shown flashes of brilliance, with quarter-final runs in Miami and Stuttgart, and a top-10 win over Maria Sakkari at Wimbledon, pushing her back into the top 60.
The doubles partnership with Boulter, sparked spontaneously during clay-court practice at Queen’s, is a strategic move to hone their grass-court skills ahead of Wimbledon and the Billie Jean King Cup. “It kind of came spontaneously, like all things do with us, but it went pretty well,” Raducanu said, while Boulter jokingly declared, “Scrap what she said, we’re going for the Wimbledon title.” Their telepathy shone through, with Boulter’s powerful serve complementing Raducanu’s net play, as she noted, “I think we both serve and return very well, and we both have great volleys.” The win sets up a potential all-British clash against Jodie Burrage and Sonay Kartal, pending their result.
As Raducanu prepares for her singles opener against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa—a rematch of a grueling three-hour loss in Singapore earlier this year—she stands on the cusp of reclaiming the British No. 1 ranking from Boulter, who faces a 250-point drop from her 2024 Nottingham title. With 55% of ticket buyers at Queen’s being female and the Lawn Tennis Association pledging prize money parity by 2029, Raducanu’s nervous yet triumphant debut underscores her resilience and the dawn of a new era for women’s tennis at this iconic venue.
Leave a Reply