I was very disappointed when it was announced that they were adding a women’s tournament to Queens because this directly impacted Eastbourne (my spritual home) which was downgraded from a 500 to 250 event. I have to admit though that I really enjoyed watching the women’s Queen’s tournament on the TV last year. I said that I would never go back to Queens… so here I am announcing myself as a hypocrit as I went to Queens last week 🙃. I went with my family on the Friday and we saw a mix of second round and quarter-final matches following Thursday’s unfortunate washout. This post captures the matches that we watched and the best spots from around the grounds. There will be another post coming soon which will be a tournament guide for attending Queens.
Match notes 🎾
Elena Rybakina d. Tatjana Maria, 6-7(4) 7-5 6-0 (R2)
It looked like Maria’s magic touch at Queens was going to strike again as the German player was two points away from stunning Rybakina for the second straight year. Maria led 7-6 5-4*30-0* before Rybakina’s serve came to the rescue. Unfortunately for Maria, that was *the* chance to claim another huge scalp at Queens as Rybakina powered through the last eight games to avenge last year’s loss.
Rybakina was very up and down throughout the first two sets and her forehand was spraying long for periods of the match. Rybakina was visibly frustrated and gestured to her team on multiple occasions which was notably Vukov-less. Rybakina’s level was certainly not helped by having to play Maria, which was a horrible draw for the first match on grass. Maria played a solid match for two sets. When Maria was two points from the victory, I thought Rybakina was checking out and already planning flights to Berlin. Not to be the case as Rybakina survived the dicey second set and then lost just four points (!) in the third set to become the first player to beat Tatjana Maria at Queens.
Emma Raducanu d. Sorana Cirstea, 6-4 6-2 (R2)
It’s bizarre how Cirstea and Raducanu have played twice this year in their respective home countries. Back in February, Cirstea beat Raducanu in straight sets in the final of Cluj. This time round, Raducanu turned the tables at her home tournament for a convincing straight sets victory and her best win of the year (arguably to be later topped by beating Jovic in the semi-finals).
It was the highlight of the day to see Raducanu win in front of an excited Queens crowd and even more uplifting to see Emma smiling and content on court. After a challenging 2026 season which has been derailed by illness, Raducanu seems to be in a good place right now. Raducanu came out swinging from the start while Cirstea was flat and subdued, and took a while to get into the match. Cirstea reduced the early deficit from 0-4 to 4-5 in the first set as she improved and Raducanu simmered after the bright start. Raducanu was able to rely on her serve to hold a tricky service game at *5-4 and bag the opening set.
Raducanu’s level improved again at the start of the second set and she front-ran the match convincingly. Cirstea’s hitting improved in the second set and Raducanu was able to match her every step of the way. There was a nice moment at the net which was not surprising after the cameras caught the pair having a nice chat after the final in Cluj so I think there’s a lot of respect on both sides. And what a week it turned out to be for Raducanu who went onto reach the final.
Iva Jovic d. Amanda Anisimova, 6-2 3-6 6-3 (QF)
This was a first encounter on the tour between Anisimova and Jovic, and it was difficult to split the pair, both pre-match and while watching the match. It was mostly streaky with switch-ups in momentum and not a great deal of rhythm. I’ll remember this match for lots of deuce games – eight deuces in the third game was the highlight. I feel that Anisimova’s best beats Jovic’s best but Jovic’s base level and consistency is higher and that was the difference. Anisimova was very up and down and you just didn’t have a clue what was coming off her racquet from one point to the next. There were some bright moments but they were interspersed with a lot of errors and a couple of crazy shanks off the serve too.
It feels very different this year with Anisimova going from being an underdog/dark horse to being one of the favourites and we’ve generally seen less of the free-flowing tennis. There’s been the wrist injury too which sidelined Anisimova for the majority of the clay court season. Anismova has looked more fraught on court this year (granted, she was still fraught at times last year when she was winning). The frustration has been more of a thing this year and it was already bubbling over after a few games in this match. Anisimova is one of my favourite players to watch so i’m rooting for her to find her best form again. I am worried though for Wimbledon where she defends final points and her recent withdrawal from Berlin has not calmed those concerns.
Back to the match and Anisimova competed well to win the second set and fend off a late surge from Jovic. It still never felt like Anisimova was in control of her game, or the match. I thought the difference in the third set was on serve and return – Jovic landed more first serves (73% to AA’s 57%) and Anisimova missed so many returns, particularly in the final game of the match. Jovic was fully deserving of the win and it was nice to see her live for the first time. For 18 years old, she is very impressive and already seems to have found her feet on grass which doesn’t seem to be an easy thing to do. Her attitude was unwavering and that definitely helped her to this win.
There was a nice interview at the end and Iva endeared herself to the home crowd. Her coach, Thomas Gutteridge, is British and his parents had come all the way from Weymouth to watch. Iva also mentioned that she had heard a lot about Harry Kane which got a lot of cheers.
Katie Boulter d. Elena Rybakina, 7-5 2-6 6-4 (QF)
We could only stay for the first six games of the final match on the Andy Murray Arena before we had to catch our train home. This was a shame because it was the best match of the day and arguably of the entire tournament. We got a microcosm of the match in those six games as Boulter saved nine break points across her first three service games. I did not see this result coming though as Boulter scored the best win of her career.
I liked Rybakina’s obvious clear intent to get to the net (this was also the case in the Maria match) but it was not often successful. It will be interesting to see if Rybakina sticks with this plan going forward because it’s a decent tactic on grass. Rybakina’s serve alone will make her difficult to beat on the grass but she was patchy off-the-ground (the forehand was shaky in both matches) and rather unclutch on break point opportunities (converted two out of 14). On the other hand, Boulter was clutch when playing the break points and she was in that sweet zone in the third set where she was free, had seemingly no inhibitions and was going after her shots. Boulter played a phenomenal final two games where her forehand was on fire. I’m so happy for Katie to get this big win at home and I hope she can keep building for Wimby.
Around the grounds 🌱
There were multiple rows on two stands close to the front that were empty until early afternoon on the Andy Murray Arena. Presumably they were corporate and too busy having a slap-up lunch. I hate it.
The outside courts were surprisingly manageable and not crazy busy – i’m not sure if this is because it was a Friday with the women’s tournament starting to wind down or we got lucky with when he had a wander. Or perhaps that is just the case at Queens!
We saw Rafael Jodar and Ignacio Buse practising with each other who happened to draw each other in the first round of the men’s tournament. That was before Jodar withdrew…
As we walked between the two sets of outside courts along a walkway lined by hedges, a ball came over which I caught. It was from Moutet’s practice 😂. My niece was annoyed that I threw the ball back 🙃.
Lloyd Glasspool followed us while we walked along the hedged walkway between the outside courts and I was trying to discretely inform my mother who it was 😂.
Cameron Norrie looked at me. That is all.
Snap of the day 📸
I struggled to get any decent pictures with our position on Andy Murray Arena so i’m going for one from around the grounds. Queens is a unique setting with flats enclosing the outside courts.
Highlights 📺
If you have any questions about the women’s tournament at Queens then i’d be more than happy to help. Please leave a comment or e-mail MooTennisBlog@gmail.com