Emma Raducanu fell short of her dream title in her homeland as she lost 6-0, 7-6 (6) to Croatia’s lucky loser Donna Vekic at the HSBC Championship in London.
The British number one quickly lost the first set, but saved three championship points in the second en route to a tie-break, where she saved another point and came dangerously close to taking the deciding set.
Due to rain early in the tournament, Raducanu powered through two matches on Saturday, defeating Kamila Rakimova and then American Iva Jovic to reach her first grass court and third tour-level final.
This meant the Briton spent two hours and 19 minutes more on court than her opponent, who had played just one match the previous day, and beat British number three Katie Boulter in one hour and six minutes.
Raducanu was looking for his first trophy since an impressive victory in the 2021 US Open qualifying round, but he squandered two set points in the 10th game.
The 23-year-old finished runner-up to Solana Cirstea in her second final in Cluj-Napoca in February, but missed two-and-a-half months of the season with post-viral symptoms and has won just once since March.
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Raducanu skated into the first of those matches and danced about how affected she felt after making it to the final, saying she and the team would “do everything we can” for the final and claiming the “adrenaline and support” drove her on.
Raducanu took to the court with a patch on his left thigh, the same spot he was in during his semifinal victory, and at least the home crowd cheered him on from the get-go.
