Raducanu downs Bucsa to lead British trio into 2nd round at Queen’s Club as Krejcikova crashes out

Emma Raducanu had a comfortable straight sets win over Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and was one of three Britons to reach the second round of the WTA 500 tournament at Queen’s Club on Tuesday, while Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out.

Bucsa had won their only previous meeting in the first round of this year’s Singapore Open, but this time the Spaniard was no match for the 22-year-old wildcard and Raducanu strolled to a 6-1 6-2 win.

“I’m still trying to find my groove on this surface,” Raducanu said.

“I knew today would be a very difficult match, I lost to Cristina earlier in the year so I was trying to make sure that didn’t happen again and fight to get myself into the second round.”

Raducanu will now face Rebecca Sramkova after the Slovak caused an upset with a 6-4 6-3 win over Czech seventh seed Krejcikova, who only returned to action last month after a back injury kept her out since November.

Top tier women’s tennis has returned to Queen’s Club for the first time since 1973 and the home crowd had plenty to cheer on day two with Katie Boulter and Heather Watson also winning their first-round matches.

“To have the women back here, it feels very special,” Boulter, current British number one, said.

“It’s something I’ve dreamt of, actually walking out on this court, after the last couple of years coming as a fan watching the men.”

Boulter beat Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(4) 1-6 6-4 and will face fifth seed Diana Shnaider after the Russian 21-year-old defeated Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-4 6-1.

Watson defeated Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to earn a second-round clash with another Kazakh, fourth seed former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

“Very happy to be through here at Queen’s,” Watson said.

“It’s such a great event so far, and I’m really enjoying playing here, playing on these courts at this amazing club, and staying at home, sleeping in my own bed.”

The other Briton in action, Francesca Jones went down 6-2 6-4 to American McCartney Kessler who will meet top seed Zheng Quinwen.

Czech Lehecka opens grass campaign with win in Stuttgart: Rising Czech force Jiri Lehecka began his Wimbledon build-up in impressive fashion with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Benjamin Bonzi in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open on Monday.

The eighth seed, whose last match on grass was in the Wimbledon fourth round in 2023, quickly got up to speed to overpower Bonzi, firing down 13 aces.

Lehecka, 23, will face 2023 Stuttgart runner-up Jan-Lennard Struff next after he thumped down 30 aces during a 6-4 6-4 victory over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, his first win against a top-50 opponent this season. American sixth seed Brandon Nakashima came through a battle against Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, winning 4-6 7-6(4) 6-1.

Top seed at the ATP 250 event is Alexander Zverev.

Action also began at the Libema Open in Den Bosch with two-time runner-up Jordan Thompson beginning another run with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of American Aleksandar Kovacevic.

Murray leaves door open to coaching return: Former world number one Andy Murray has left the door open to a coaching return after his short stint with Novak Djokovic ended without a trophy, but the Scot said he did not expect to be working with another player anytime soon.

Serb Djokovic appointed Murray ahead of this year’s Australian Open and said at the Qatar Open in February they would continue working together for an indefinite period.

However, the 24-times Grand Slam champion then endured a woeful run of form and the pair parted ways last month ahead of the French Open.

“I would do it again at some stage. I don’t think that will happen immediately,” Murray told the BBC on Monday. “I wasn’t planning on going into coaching as soon as I finished playing but it was a pretty unique opportunity.

Reuters