Raducanu, Boulter lead British charge in Queen's Club first round

Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, the top two British players in the PIF WTA Rankings, picked up opening-round wins on Andy Murray Arena to spur on a home-soil charge at the WTA 500 HSBC Championships.

The top two British players in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings, Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu, thrilled their home crowds by picking up opening-round wins on Andy Murray Arena at the HSBC Championships on Tuesday.

Boulter and Raducanu took very different paths into the second round, but they both remain alive as they lead the British charge at the year's first WTA 500 event on grass. WTA tennis is back at the prestigious Queen's Club for the first time since 1973.

Four Britons in total have made the second round at Queen's. Sonay Kartal, the British No. 3 who made her Top 50 debut on Monday, is also still in the mix, as is veteran qualifier Heather Watson.

'Winners galore': Raducanu's best points from Queen's Club first-round win

[WC] Emma Raducanu def. [Q] Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 6-2

Raducanu, the World No. 37 and British No. 2, had no problems cruising past Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa in 64 minutes.

Bucsa had beaten Raducanu earlier this year in Singapore. This time around, though, 2021 US Open champion Raducanu fired 18 winners in the match, to just eight unforced errors, and never dropped serve en route to victory.

"It's one of those days that you feel really good on the court," Raducanu said afterwards. "Sometimes you don't necessarily feel like that, but when you do have that feeling, you need to capitalize. I'm just happy with how I dealt with the whole situation."

A year ago, Raducanu was still coming back from injuries ranked No. 209, but a good grass-court surge last season, including a Round of 16 showing at Wimbledon, helped kickstart her rise back into the Top 40.

Former World No. 10 Raducanu has now reached the Round of 16 or better at her last four grass-court events. She is a win away from her second quarterfinal of the year, having already made the Elite Eight at WTA 1000 Miami in March.

Raducanu could have been part of an all-Grand Slam champion meeting in the second round, but Rebecca Sramkova had other ideas.

Slovakia's Sramkova ousted No. 7 seed Barbora Krejcikova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, 6-4, 6-3 later on Andy Murray Arena. Sramkova will now face Raducanu in their first career meeting.

Katie Boulter def. [Q] Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4

Boulter, the top-ranked Briton at World No. 34, had a trickier first-round win than Raducanu. Boulter needed to outlast Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic, coming back from an early break down in the final set.

"I knew it was going to be a really tough battle," Boulter said after the win. "She's someone who's got a lot of credibility on these courts. She's just such a tough competitor."

British No. 1 Boulter holds off Tomljanovic at Queen's Club

Former Top 40 player Tomljanovic has twice been a Wimbledon quarterfinalist, and she had beaten Boulter in their lone previous grass-court meeting at 2022 Nottingham.

But Boulter, who won the next two Nottingham titles in 2023 and 2024, held firm to prevail in 2 hours and 21 minutes, sealing a spot in the second round on home soil.

"[Tomljanovic] played really well today, very aggressive, which made it very tough for me, especially on my first match on grass for singles.

"I felt like I did so well to stay mentally strong. Actually sometimes the biggest wins are these ones, because they're the ones that give you the confidence."

Boulter's second-round opponent will be No. 5 seed Diana Shnaider, who eased past Magdalena Frech 6-4, 6-1. In their only previous meeting, Shnaider beat Boulter 6-1, 6-2 to win the 2024 Hong Kong title.

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