Boulter stuns world No.2 Rybakina as Raducanu advances at rain-delayed Queen's
British No. 3 Katie Boulter scored the biggest victory of her career at the Queen's Club Championships, beating top seed and world No. 2 Elena Rybakina 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Emma Raducanu also moved into the quarter-finals with a straight-sets win over Sorana Cirstea.
Rain throws schedule into chaos
No play was possible on Thursday at the HSBC Championships in London after persistent rain washed out the entire schedule. That left Friday impossibly packed, forcing all three British contenders to complete their postponed round-of-16 matches before the quarter-finals could even begin. Katie Boulter opened the day by dispatching Jaqueline Cristian 6-1 6-3 in just 67 minutes, while Emma Raducanu beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-2. Harriet Dart fell 5-7 6-1 7-5 to Kamilla Rakhimova in a contest lasting almost three hours.
Defending champion Tatjana Maria saw her reign end in a gruelling three-setter against top seed Rybakina earlier in the afternoon. The 38-year-old German, whose unique style of under-spin on every groundstroke had baffled Rybakina last year, took the first-set tiebreak before the Kazakh rallied 6-7(4) 7-5 6-0. That victory sent Rybakina into a quarter-final with Boulter, but it also ate into the daylight and set up a long evening for the world No. 2.
Boulter's breakthrough
Boulter, ranked world No. 73 and a wildcard entry, saved 11 break points against the Australian Open champion before clinching a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 triumph in two hours and 39 minutes. It was the best win by ranking of the 29-year-old's career and the biggest scalp a British player has claimed since Johanna Konta beat Simona Halep in 2017. The match turned late in the first set when Rybakina double-faulted on break point at 5-5, and Boulter then held her nerve to serve out the set. After losing the second set comfortably, the Briton lifted her level again as dusk fell and the home crowd roared her on.
The atmosphere was absolutely incredible. I just tried to tell myself to keep backing myself and go for it. If you don't go for it, then you're going to regret the things that you've worked so hard for.
Rybakina had looked dominant on serve early on, conceding only four points through her first five service games, but the accumulated fatigue of two matches – and perhaps the weight of Boulter's relentless defence – eventually undid her.
Raducanu's revenge and a postponed quarter
Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, notched her first win over a top-20 opponent since Strasbourg 2025 by beating world No. 18 Cirstea. It was a cathartic triumph for the British No. 1, who had been thrashed by the same opponent in the final of the Transylvania Open in February. Raducanu raced to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, then held off a Cirstea fightback before breaking twice in the second to close it out.
Earlier in the year she beat me, but I'm glad I could get her back at home as well. I knew I had to.
Raducanu was scheduled to play her quarter-final against lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday evening, but that match was postponed to Saturday after Boulter's marathon consumed the remaining light on the main court. The winner of that rescheduled contest will face American sixth seed Iva Jovic in the semi-finals.
The semi-final picture
While Raducanu waits, Boulter already knows her semi-final opponent: Croatia's Donna Vekic, who knocked out Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the last eight. Vekic, herself a lucky loser, had earlier beaten Marie Bouzkova 7-6(9) 6-3. The other semi-final will see Jovic, who upset former Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, face the survivor of the Raducanu-Rakhimova clash. Saturday promises more drama at the Queen's Club grass, with two Britons still in contention.
