Emma Raducanu is back at Queen's Club as the grass-court season gets under way, and this time she arrives with a direct line to the next stage of the year. The British former US Open champion, who reached the quarter-finals here last year, is among the headline names in the women's singles draw for the HSBC Championships from 8-14 June.
That matters because Queen's is no longer just a tune-up for Wimbledon; it is now the first real test on grass, with world number two and Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina leading a draw that also includes fellow top-10 player Amanda Anisimova. Raducanu, Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart all won their opening matches, giving home fans an early reason to watch the week closely.
The event is drawing attention for another reason, too. Serena Williams is back in competitive action after almost four years away, having been given a wildcard for the tournament. She won a match before withdrawing because of an injury to her partner Victoria Mboko, a reminder that even a return built around one of tennis's biggest names can turn quickly once the physical strain of match play arrives. Williams said Queen's Club “feels like the perfect place to begin this next chapter.”
For Queen's, the timing is the story. The women's singles draw runs this week, the men's tournament follows from 15-21 June, and Wimbledon begins three weeks after that. It is a stretch that can decide momentum for the whole summer, and this year it opens with a clearer split between the players who have started strongly and those still waiting for fitness to catch up.
Jack Draper, one of the main British hopes in the men's event, is missing because he delayed his return from injury for another week, leaving Cameron Norrie as the home interest in the draw. Alex de Minaur, the world number nine, is the highest-ranked player confirmed, with Jiri Lehecka the other top-20 player alongside him. The gap left by Draper is a real one, especially at a tournament that has become an early marker for what follows on the lawns of Wimbledon.
coverage runs across One, Two and iPlayer, with updates on Radio 5 Live all week and live reporting, analysis and features on the Sport website and app. For Raducanu, who was the only Briton to gain direct entry into the draw, Queen's is both a home event and a measure of how much of last year's promise she can carry into the most familiar part of the tennis calendar.
