Emma Raducanu walked through the storied clubhouse at Queen’s Club and down to the stadium court with a smile plastered across her face. She had arrived at this moment, another noteworthy final in front of a home crowd on a historic court, playing some of the best tennis of her career. Things were going well.

That smile was wiped off her face by a ruthless performance from one of the few true grass court enthusiasts in Donna Vekic of Croatia, a lucky loser, who was inspired by the occasion to produce her best tennis of as she clinched the biggest title of her career, edging past Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) at the Queen’s Club.

Despite a torrid start, Raducanu gave herself many chances to force a final set and give herself a shot at finally winning her first title since her fateful US Open triumph nearly five years ago. Raducanu fought brilliantly to lead 5-2 in the second set and she held two set points on her serve at 5-4 but she was too tentative in the decisive moments. She will be painfully disappointed at her inability to at least extend the match.

Her performances this week still represent a massive step forward. Raducanu had not won a match in three months after post-viral illness, her latest in a long line of injury struggles, had sidelined her for two months. She has played some of the best tennis of her life this week. The next step is for her to learn how to perform like this on a more consistent basis so she can put herself in these positions more regularly.

Facing a lucky loser in the final of a WTA 500 event is usually a sign of good fortune, but despite her loss in qualifying and her current ranking of No 76, Vekic is a formidable player and at her strongest on grass. The 29-year-old reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2024, narrowly missing out on the final, shortly before earning an Olympic singles silver medal in Paris. She reached a career high ranking of No 17 last January and her four previous titles include a victory in Nottingham on grass back in 2017.

At her best, Vekic is one of the best servers on the tour and a big, flat ball-striker, the type of player that has continuously overpowered Raducanu during her time on the tour and one Raducanu had avoided in her previous matches this week where she was comfortably the aggressor in each match. Vekic was very much at her best early on, backing up her dominant serve with brutal, precise shotmaking. She pulverised the ball off both wings, particularly her stellar two-handed backhand, practically tearing the racket from Raducanu’s hands as she bulldozed through to a 5-0 lead.

Raducanu had entered the final still with question marks surrounding her left thigh after slipping in her first of two impressive wins on Saturday, but issues here, however, seemed to be entirely mental. Raducanu lacked pace on her groundstrokes and struggled to absorb the immense speed generated by Vekic across the net. Her serve, a pillar of her success this week, was poor, and she looked uncertain out of the corners. With the games falling away at warp speed, it took Vekic just 29 minutes to slot an excellent backhand passing shot by Raducanu and take the set 6-0.

Vekic further emphasised her superiority at the beginning of set two with a quick, effortless hold to extend her run of games to 7-0. However, Raducanu used the break between sets well, pulling back some of Vekic’s momentum by landing enough first serves to finally close out a service game. After the crowd responded with a long, booming ovation, Raducanu immediately pieced together her best return game of the match, attacking the Vekic second serve, finding better depth on her rally ball and taking the ball early whenever the opportunity presented itself.

Raducanu provided herself with every chance to force a final set. She established a 5-2 lead and then held two set points. On the second, she set up an easy forehand right on top of the net, but she erroneously tried to wrong-foot Vekic, who stood her ground and rolled a sweet backhand lob over her head. Suddenly, Raducanu had conceded four consecutive games to trail 5-6.

Raducanu made her last stand in front of a 9,000-strong crowd for 90 minutes. Down 0-6, 5-6 against a supreme Vekic, she faced three match points in quick succession. She responded with disgust, lasering two forehand winners and landing a solid first serve to save them all. She recovered to force a tense second set tie-break, but Vekic re-established control of the baseline and held her nerve to secure her best ever triumph.