Emma Raducanu reaches Queen’s quarter-finals as Katie Boulter ousts Elena Rybakina
A busy day of action saw many players take to the court twice.
Emma Raducanu advanced to the quarter-finals of the HSBC Championships in London while British number three Katie Boulter boldly dispatched number one seed Elena Rybakina 7-5 2-6 6-4 to book a place in the final four.
A washout of all of Thursday’s action meant a packed schedule on Friday at the Queen’s Club, where all three British singles hopefuls needed to first come through their postponed last-16 clashes.
Raducanu secured a place in the last eight for the second straight year with 6-4 6-2 win over Romanian Sorana Cirstea, her first victory over top-20 opposition since defeating No.17 Daria Kasatkina at Strasbourg 2025.
The 2021 US Open winner was due to play Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova in her own quarter-final Friday night at the Andy Murray Arena, but it was called off after it became clear another contest would not be possible as Boulter’s battle ultimately lasted two hours and 39 minutes, eating up the remainder of the centre court daylight.
Boulter, WTA number 73, pushed Kazakhstani world number two Rybakina all the way to claim the best win by rankings of her career, saving eight break points by the time she brought the first set level at 3-3, and 11 across the three sets.
It was an inconsistent day for reigning Australian Open and 2022 Wimbledon singles winner Rybakina, who came through a tough battle with reigning HSBC champion Tatjana Maria earlier in the day to book her meeting with Boulter.
Rybakina was stronger in the second set, but, as the sun started setting, the crowd threw their weight behind the local wild card, who had booked her place with a straight-sets win over Jaqueline Cristian earlier in the day.
Boulter wrapped up her earlier last-16 encounter over an hour faster than Rybakina, and used the extra energy to her advantage, finding another level of both form and belief to wrap up the decider in style in front of an elated home crowd.
She will take on Croatian Donna Vekic in the semi-finals, while Iva Jovic awaits the winner of Raducanu’s rescheduled encounter.
Dart was beaten 5-7 6-1 7-5, slipping at the beginning of the second set but electing to carry on after a pause for physiotherapy.