By Ros Satar
- Katie Boulter v Diana Shnaider [5]
- Heather Watson [Q] v Elena Rybakina [4]
- Emma Raducanu [WC] v Rebecca Sramkova
LONDON, ENGLAND – A bumper day of British action in store as Katie Boulter, Heather Watson and Emma Raducanu bid to reach the quarter-finals.
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Katie Boulter v Diana Shnaider [5] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Katie Boulter v Diana Shnaider [5] | H2H: Shnaider leads 1-0 |
| WTA Queen’s Club | UK |
| Grass | Prize Money: $20,875 |
| First on Andy Murray Arena at 12pm | Across BBC iPlayer & Red Button |
Katie Boulter’s draw does not get any easier as she faces fifth seed Diana Shnaider in the second round. The Russian is no slouch on grass, winning Bad Homburg last year, as well as reaching to the quarter-final in Birmingham and the third round of Wimbledon.
Boulter has fought hard to get her rise up the rankings, along with titles in Nottingham and her largest to date in San Diego last year. But in her previous encounter with Shnaider, she was effectively taken apart for the gain of just three games.
Both have powerful games and a good track record on the grass, and Boulter comes with the added advantage of a partisan crowd. But that is unlikely to deter Shnaider although Boulter would do well to take a set off her.
Prediction: Shnaider in three sets.
Heather Watson [Q] v Elena Rybakina [4] | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Heather Watson [Q] v Elena Rybakina [4] | H2H: Rybakina leads 1-0 |
| WTA Queen’s Club | UK |
| Grass | Prize Money: $20,875 |
| Second on Andy Murray Arena, not before 1:30pm | Across BBC iPlayer & Red Button |
Heather Watson comes alive during the grass court season and has done well to battle through qualifying before breezing past Yulia Putintseva. Next up though is a former Wimbledon champion and one of the steadiest players on the tour, Elena Rybakina.
Rybakina picked up the title in Strasbourg, which was her first in over a year, but is in solid form, while Watson has been languishing for a while, and had her first main draw win of the season this week.
The pair met five years ago in Hobart where Watson pushed Rybakina the distance, and she would hope that the crowd can get her to make this competitive, but it is a tough ask for the girl from Guernsey to pull off the upset.
Prediction: Rybakina in straight sets.
Emma Raducanu [WC] v Rebecca Sramkova | H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Emma Raducanu [WC] v Rebecca Sramkova | H2H: First Meeting |
| WTA Queen’s Club | UK |
| Grass | Prize Money: $20,875 |
| Third on Andy Murray Arena, not before 3pm | Across BBC iPlayer & Red Button |
British fans may have to wait all day for a British victory, but they would do well not to underestimate Emma Raducanu’s opponent Rebecca Sramkova. The Slovakian downed the reigning Wimbledon champion in straight sets and surged into the Top 50 last year.
For all the flak that Raducanu receives since her 2021 surprise run to the US Open title, she has clawed her way back to the Top 50 with some decent runs and has been told in no uncertain terms by new coaching addition Mark Petchey that her career restarts here.
She started very strongly in her opener against Cristina Bucsa and has a game that suits the grass. With a home crowd behind her, and her record of form on the grass, she should turn in the sole British success of the day in singles.
Prediction: Raducanu in three sets.
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