Emma Raducanu loses to Russian No.1 in final event before Wimbledon
Emma Raducanu will now turn her attentions towards Wimbledon (Picture: Getty)
Emma Raducanu lost to Russian No.1 Daria Kasatkina in the Eastbourne International quarter-finals on Thursday in her last event before Wimbledon.
Raducanu, who was handed a wildcard to compete at this year’s Championships, has been in fine form on the grass and narrowly missed out on reaching her second WTA Tour semi-final in a row as Kasatkina won 6-2 6-2.
The British star, a Grand Slam champion in 2021 and ranked world No.10 in 2022, is currently down at No.168 and is building up fitness this year having returned to tennis after overcoming long-term injury issues and undergoing triple surgery.
Raducanu has endured mixed results this year but her decision to skip the French Open has paid off with some solid performances on the grass, with the 21-year-old producing her first-ever win over a top 10 player on Wednesday.
She was unable to follow that up against world No.14 Kasatkina in East Sussex, though, suffering elimination at the same stage and on the same day as British No.1 Katie Boulter, who lost to world No.7 Jasmine Paolini earlier on Thursday.
Katie Boulter’s remarkable run ends in Eastbourne
Jasmine Paolini ended Katie Boulter’s hopes of a fourth WTA Tour title (Picture: Getty)
Katie Boulter’s superb winning run came to an end on Thursday as the British No.1 lost to world No.7 Jasmine Paolini in the Eastbourne International quarter-finals.
The 27-year-old has enjoyed a purple patch during the grass swing, heading into this clash with a 7-0 record in competed in matches on the surface in 2024, with her only loss coming due to a mid-match retirement in Birmingham over illness.
Boulter, ranked world No.32, clinched the Nottingham Open title earlier this month to impressively register her third trophy on the WTA Tour to date.
But it was Paolini who came out on top 6-1 7-6 on Thursday as the Italian booked her spot in the last four in the final event in women’s tennis ahead of Wimbledon.
Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter are ‘very close’ friends
Katie Boulter defeated Emma Raducanu in Nottingham earlier this month (Picture: Getty)
Thursday’s results mean that Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter will now not meet in the semi-finals of the 2024 Eastbourne International.
The British pair were on a collision course for another showdown after Boulter beat Raducanu in the last four at the Nottingham Open earlier in June.
But with both women losing in the quarter-finals in East Sussex in Thursday, it is Daria Kasatkina who’ll face Jasmine Paolini in the Eastbourne semi-finals.
There has been talk of a rivalry brewing between Raducanu and Boulter but the British No.1 insisted this week that they are close friends.
‘If [my boyfriend] Alex [de Minaur] isn’t playing I support the rest of the British girls,’ Boulter told The Times. ‘Emma Raducanu, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and I are all very close and travel together a lot.
‘Sometimes they come over to my place and we cook and switch off from tennis to enjoy each other’s company.’