Top seed Zheng ends British involvement with quarter-final win over Raducanu at Queen’s

Top seed Qinwen Zheng reached her first semi-final on grass courts as she battled past British wildcard Emma Raducanu 6-2, 6-4 at Queen’s Club in London on Friday.

Zheng, ranked No 5, came from 4-2 down to clinch victory and will face the winner of the match between No 3 seed Emma Navarro and No 8 seed Amanda Anisimova next.

“I think Emma played really good today, she has more experience than me on a grass court,” she said. “I’m really happy to be in my first semi-final on grass court.”

Raducanu, who has been suffering back spasms in recent weeks, had an off-court medical timeout at the end of the first set but finished the match strongly, saving three match points before Zheng finally got over the line.

Ahead of her victory, the 22-year-old Chinese edged out American McCartney Kessler (6-3, 4-6, 7-5).

Raducanu, ranked No 37, won against Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa (6-1, 6-2) and Slovak Rebecca Sramkova (6-4, 6-1) in the previous rounds of the Queen’s tournament.

London WTA 500, other last eight results (Queen’s Club, grass, USD 1.415.000, most recent results first):

• Emma Navarro vs. Amanda Anisimova
• Tatjana Maria (Q) beat Elena Rybakina (4): 6-4, 7-6 (4)
• Madison Keys (2) beat Diana Shnaider (5): 2-6, 6-3, 6-4