Emma Raducanu’s penultimate match before Wimbledon ended in a loss to Russian No. 1 Daria Kasatkina on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International.
Despite being granted a wildcard to the Championships this year, Raducanu has been playing well on the grass and nearly lost to Kasatkina 6-2 6-2 to avoid making it to her second consecutive WTA Tour semifinal.
The British player, who won a Grand Slam in 2021 and was ranked No. 10 in the world in 2022, is presently down at No. 168 and is getting healthier this year after returning to the game following triple surgery and long-term injury difficulties.
Despite having uneven results this year, Raducanu’s choice to boycott the French Open paid off as the 21-year-old put up some strong grass-court performances, including her first-ever victory over a top-10 player on Wednesday.
In East Sussex, she was eliminated at the same stage and on the same day as British No. 1 Katie Boulter, who had earlier on Thursday lost to world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini. However, she was unable to follow it up against world No. 14 Kasatkina.
The incredible winning streak of British No. 1 Katie Boulter ended on Thursday when she fell to world No. 7 Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinals of the Eastbourne International.
The 27-year-old has had a great run during the grass swing and enters this match with a 7-0 record after competing on the surface in 2024.
Her lone defeat came from having to withdraw from a tournament in Birmingham owing to sickness. Boulter, now ranked 32nd in the world, won the Nottingham Open earlier this month, becoming the first woman to win three titles on the WTA Tour.
However, Paolini prevailed 6-1 7-6 on Thursday, securing her place in the last four of the women’s tennis championship before Wimbledon.
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.’