Lucky loser Vekic completes an improbable week with the Queen’s title
She failed to qualify, got in only as a lucky loser, and walked away with the trophy: Donna Vekic beat Emma Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) to win at Queen’s for her first title since 2023 and a climb back to No 32.
Emma Raducanu and Donna Vekic, Queen’s 2026 | © Imago / PsNewz
Croatian Donna Vekic turned a week that began in defeat into the most unlikely of triumphs on Sunday afternoon, beating Englishwoman Emma Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) to win the title at The HSBC Championships as a lucky loser.
Vekic, ranked No 76, had not even qualified for the main draw. She lost in the qualifying competition and entered only when Marta Kostyuk withdrew, then proceeded to win match after match. The final followed the pattern of a player in command: she raced through the opening set for the loss of no games, and though Raducanu rallied to force a tie-break in the second, Vekic held her nerve to close it out 7-6 (6) and seal the trophy, saving two second set points on the way.
It was the fifth title of Vekic’s career and her first in over three years, ending a drought stretching back to 2023. The run will lift her from No 76 to No 32 in the rankings, a remarkable turnaround for a player who had been outside the top 100 only a couple of months ago and had been reduced to playing qualifying for the game’s bigger events.
Her path to the final had carried her past Englishwoman Mika Stojsavljevic (6-2, 6-3), Czech Marie Bouzkova (7-6 (9), 6-3), former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova (6-4, 4-6, 6-3) and home favourite Katie Boulter (6-1, 6-3).
Raducanu’s disappointment
For Raducanu, the defeat was a disappointing end to her best week in some time. The world No 42 had not dropped a set on her way to the final, beating Russian Anna Blinkova (6-0, 6-3), Romanian seventh seed Sorana Cirstea (6-4, 6-2), Uzbek Kamilla Rakhimova (6-3, 7-5) and American sixth seed Iva Jovic (6-2, 6-2) to reach what was her biggest final since her 2021 US Open title.
Against Vekic, though, she found no answer in the opening set and could not convert her recovery in the second.
SEO summary: Donna Vekic beat Emma Raducanu 6-0, 7-6 (6) to win The HSBC Championships 2026 at Queen’s Club, claiming the title as a lucky loser after failing to qualify. The Croatian, who will rise from No 76 to No 32, won her fifth career title and first since 2023.
