Emma Raducanu leads British trio into Queen’s Club second round, Barbora Krejcikova crashes out

LONDON - Emma Raducanu had a comfortable straight sets win over Spain's Cristina Bucsa and was one of three Britons to reach the second round of the WTA 500 tournament at Queen's Club on June 10, while Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out.

Bucsa had won their only previous meeting in the first round of this year's Singapore Open, but this time the Spaniard was no match for the 22-year-old wildcard and Raducanu strolled to a 6-1 6-2 win.

"I'm still trying to find my groove on this surface," Raducanu said.

"I knew today would be a very difficult match, I lost to Cristina earlier in the year so I was trying to make sure that didn't happen again and fight to get myself into the second round."

Raducanu will now face Rebecca Sramkova after the Slovak caused an upset with a 6-4 6-3 win over Czech seventh seed Krejcikova, who only returned to action in May after a back injury kept her out since November.

Top tier women's tennis has returned to Queen's Club for the first time since 1973 and the home crowd had plenty to cheer on day two with Katie Boulter and Heather Watson also winning their first-round matches.

"To have the women back here, it feels very special," Boulter, current British number one, said.

"It's something I've dreamt of, actually walking out on this court, after the last couple of years coming as a fan watching the men."

Boulter beat Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 7-6(4) 1-6 6-4 and will face fifth seed Diana Shnaider after the Russian 21-year-old defeated Poland's Magdalena Frech 6-4 6-1.

Watson defeated Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva 6-4 6-3 to earn a second-round clash with another Kazakh, fourth seed former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

"Very happy to be through here at Queen's," Watson said.

"It's such a great event so far, and I'm really enjoying playing here, playing on these courts at this amazing club, and staying at home, sleeping in my own bed."

The other Briton in action, Francesca Jones went down 6-2 6-4 to American McCartney Kessler who will meet top seed Zheng Quinwen. REUTERS

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