Raducanu match – Emma Raducanu’s Queen’s Club quarter-final against Kamilla Rakhimova was stopped mid-set when jets from Trooping the Colour roared overhead under the Heathrow flight path, forcing players and spectators to pause before play resumed.
Emma Raducanu didn’t have to lose a game to feel the break in rhythm.
Less than half an hour into her Queen’s Club quarter-final against Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova. the roar of Trooping the Colour aircraft swept directly over the Andy Murray Arena and forced play to stop. The British No1 was serving at 2-2 in a tense opening set when the first low-flying jet drowned out the moment.
Raducanu stood motionless on the baseline as the aircraft passed overhead above the packed arena. When the noise subsided, Kamilla Rakhimova tried to get things moving again, only for another aircraft to thunder across London skies moments later.
It eventually became clear the match couldn’t continue until the flypast had completely passed. The familiar Red Arrows followed the conclusion of Trooping the Colour, hovering over west London as the crowd applauded the aerial display. Only then did attention return to tennis.
When play resumed, Raducanu regained her focus impressively. She held to love on her serve and punctuated the next phase with a determined fist pump. Momentum stayed firmly with the Briton as she broke Rakhimova to love in the following game, before extending her advantage to 5-2 in the opening set.
The stop-start interruption only underlined how delicately the match had swung before the jets arrived. Raducanu’s route to this quarter-final came on form as well: she reached the last eight after defeating Sorana Cirstea 6-4. 6-2 in the previous round. a victory that marked her first win over a top-20 opponent in more than a year.
Her clash with Rakhimova was pushed back to Saturday after poor light compounded a rain-affected schedule earlier in the week. Even with the disruption overhead, she has now carried that confidence into the business end of Queen’s.
Awaiting the winner in the semi-finals is American teenager Iva Jovic, with Raducanu bidding to keep building momentum on grass ahead of Wimbledon.
Emma Raducanu Kamilla Rakhimova Queen's Club Trooping the Colour Andy Murray Arena WTA 500 Iva Jovic Wimbledon