Annabel Croft criticised some of the more partisan fans at Queen’s as Emma Raducanu was beaten by Donna Vekic in a dramatic final.
Raducanu declared herself ‘back and better’ after winning two games on Saturday to reach her first grass-court final.
But a long-awaited title continued to evade the British number one, who was beaten 6-0 7-6 by Croatia’s Vekic in a turbulent final.
Raducanu looked set to be on the receiving end of an embarrassing scoreline as Vekic took the first set without dropping a game in a little over half an hour.
The former US Open champion looked increasingly rattled during the opening set, at one point clashing with her coaching team and urging them to be more vocal between points.
Former British number one and BBC pundit Croft was unhappy with some of the noise between points as fans in the Andy Murray Arena tried to support Raducanu.
Some fans, desperate to support a struggling Raducanu, cheered when Vekic served a double-fault early on, with similar reactions heard when the 29-year-old made unforced errors.
‘Well I’m not sure they should be clapping the double fault,’ Croft said on BBC’s coverage before adding: ‘That’s a bit overenthusiastic.’
At one point in the second set a loud yell rang out in response to what looked to be a Raducanu winner but Vekic returned the ball.
‘A bit of an overenthusiastic crowd member thought the point was over before it was there,’ Croft said. ‘I’m not sure if that came from Raducanu’s camp, I don’t think so.’
Fans inside the Andy Murray Arena sensed an incredible comeback when Raducanu broke the Vekic serve early in the second set.
But Raducanu was twice broken herself when serving for the set and blew a 5-2 lead to lose a tense tie-break.
Assessing Raducanu’s Queen’s campaign as a whole, Croft said: ‘Emma should be extremely proud of what she has turned around in her season here at the Queen’s Club this week.
‘She came so close to taking it into a final set and she’s reignited the form that saw her win the US Open.
‘It’s going to give her a lot of confidence and a really good springboard going into Wimbledon. She certainly looks way better than she did three months ago.
‘We’ve seen evidence of why people are so excited about her tennis again.’
More to follow…
BBC pundit criticises Queen’s fans as Emma Raducanu loses in final
#BBC #pundit #criticises #Queens #fans #Emma #Raducanu #loses #final
