A star-studded Rothesay International Eastbourne continues this week as former US Open champions Emma Raducanu and Sloane Stephens go head-to-head, while Katie Boulter faces Petra Martic.
2024 WTA Tour – WTA 500
Rothesay International Eastbourne
Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club
Selected Round of 32 matches – 25 June
Emma Raducanu 5/10 | Sloane Stephens 31/20
This promises to be a fascinating clash between two former US Open champions (both of whom have been criticised for somewhat laissez-faire approaches to the game).
Brit darling Emma Radacanu needed that semi-final run in Nottingham. In fact, that was her first semi-final appearance since the 2022 Korea Open. She caught plenty of flak for skipping the latter portion of the clay-court swing, instead deciding to focus on her grass-court preparations.
She played well in Nottingham, serving accurately and looking back to something resembling her physical best. She blew a one-set lead against Katie Boulter in the semi-final but she will still be pleased with her overall showing.
The 2021 US Open champion has some grass-court pedigree to her name, reaching the Wimbledon 4th round on her Major debut back in 2021. But she will need to navigate a pretty tough draw this week if she wishes to have another deep run.
Next up for Radacanu is 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens. I think it’s probably a bit unfair for me to lump Stephens into the Radacanu bracket of underachievement.
She is an eight-time WTA Tour winner with a number of deep Grand Slam runs. But it just feels like she stopped developing at a certain point. Stephens is the antithesis of your contemporary American player, adopting a largely defensive posture akin to a European clay-court specialist.
She really needed to develop more potent weapons to remain in the upper echelon of the game. Having said that, Stephens did come from nowhere to win her 8th title at this season’s Open de Rouen. But her form has absolutely nosedived since then and she is fresh off a pretty dispiriting straight-sets defeat to Cocciaretto in Birmingham.
Her ultra-defensive style just doesn’t seem to work on these slick surfaces (she is yet to reach a grass-court final in her career).
The Verdict: Radacanu to win in straight-sets 11/10
Radacanu won their only previous meeting in three sets at the 2022 Aussie Open. I just think there’s no real reason to opt for Stephens here.
Radacanu is playing in front of fanatical home support and she is fresh off a solid semi-final run in Nottingham. Her serve seems to be ticking over nicely and she will win far more cheap points than Stephens.
Katie Boulter 53/100 | Petra Martic 29/20
Katie Boulter represents one of Britain’s best hopes of a deep run at Wimbledon. It’s really amazing how much she has evolved over the past 12 months or so.
She was in the tennis doldrums going into last year’s grass-court swing, struggling with both form and injuries. But a surprise victory at the Nottingham Open gave her a much-needed shot of confidence. And the big-hitting Brit has just gone from strength to strength this season, picking up a title in San Diego before defending her Nottingham crown.
She had to withdraw from her opening match in Birmingham last week due to illness and she will be using Eastbourne as the final stop in her Wimbledon preparations. She has a big serve and dismissive forehand, a wonderful combination for success on grass.
Former top 15 player Petra Martic is in the twilight of her career and in desperate need of some positive momentum. The talented Croat was still ranked inside the top 30 in the world after reaching the Madrid quarter-finals last season.
But she has fallen off a cliff since then and comes into this match in pretty dire form. In fact, she has gone 3-8 in tour-level matches since the Aussie Open. She will feel relieved to have come through qualifying unscathed as she looks for a pick-me-up ahead of the Wimbledon Championships.
Martic has actually shown herself to be a fairly adroit grass-court operator in the past, reaching the 4th round at Wimbledon on three separate occasions. She is able to change the pace of rallies with brilliant drop-shots and cunning backhand slices. This week marks her first grass-court event of the season and she has it all to do against an ebullient Katie Boulter.
The Verdict: Martic to win in three sets 46/10
Martic leads Boulter 1-0 in their head-to-head record, actually seeing off the Brit in straight sets at this event last year. And I think that Martic is decent value for a surprise this week.
Boulter obviously had that illness last week and you always have to wonder how hard players are going to go a week before the biggest event on the calendar. Martic’s clever sliced backhand could force the aggressive Boulter into plenty of unforced errors.
