LONDON: Home favo­urite Emma Raducanu won her first match since March as she swept past Russian Anna Blinkova 6-0, 6-3 in the opening round of the Queen’s Club WTA event on Tuesday.

The British number one has endured a tough year with injury and illness restricting her court time, and she was knocked out in the first round at the French Open.

But on the slick grasscourts the 2021 US Open champion, who has recently reunited with her former coach Andrew Richardson, produced a confident display against the qualifier as she began her preparations for Wimbledon.

“The way I was moving, the way I was expressing, just the whole package, not necessarily the tennis, just how I was acting on the court,” the 23-year-old said.

“I really enjoyed it and I think that’s something that I want to take forward in all my matches and really embrace this grass-court season.”

Raducanu will play Romanian seventh seed Sorana Cirstea next.

On Monday, defending champion Tatjana Maria started her title defence in style as she defeated Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-3.

The 38-year-old reached the main-round having be­a­ten Briton Lily Miyazaki and Uzkbek Kamilla Rakhimova.

But the German, mother of two who became the oldest winner of a WTA 500 title at the age of 37, thought she would get a wildcard.

“I think with all the respect of what I did last year, I was pretty sure to get a wild card or I was hoping to get a wildcard,” Maria told reporters.

“It was not, like, five years ago, it was last year and especially this tournament and to come back like a champion, I hoped and I thought I would get a wildcard.

“I was surprised when I got the message from (tou­r­nament director) Laura Robson saying all the wild cards would go to the British players, which I understand of course but you know as a champion, it’s tough for me (to accept).”

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2026