One day after removing top seed and World No.2 Elena Rybakina and with a Queen's Championship final place on the line Katie Boulter proved no match for the experienced Donna Vekic.
Boulter, fiance of Australia's No.1 Alex de Minaur who was experiencing considerably better fortune in Holland, was eclipsed 6-1 6-3 by Vekic, who will face another Briton, Emma Raducanu, in Sunday's final.
Vekic revived memories of her deep run at Wimbledon two years ago, dropping only six points on serve in Saturday's 6-1 6-3 victory over Boulter who looked flat after her stunning win against Rybakina.
Never seen this before ✈️@rafredarrows and the @RoyalAirForce putting on a show above the #HSBCChampionships pic.twitter.com/dqg96QEcud
— HSBC Championships (@QueensTennis) June 13, 2026
Vekic, 29, will contest her first Tour-level final since she reached the Paris Olympics final in 2024. She played the villain role to perfection on the Andy Murray Arena, silencing the pro-Boulter crowd with an exhibition of precision serving and sweetly-struck baseline winners.
The vastly-experienced Vekic has seen her ranking drop to 76, three places below Boulter, after a tough season and was actually beaten here in the final round of qualifying.
Marta Kostyuk's withdrawal with an injury meant Vekic got her chance in the draw as a lucky loser and she has taken full advantage of her reprieve with a stunning run to the final, including downing former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova.
Raducanu stormed into the final after thumping American Iva Jovic 6-2 6-2 in the semi-finals on a day that saw the British No.1 play two matches at Queen's.
The weather-plagued second edition of the women's tournament at Queen's meant Raducanu had a busy day, first beating Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3 7-5 at the Andy Murray Arena in a quarter-final briefly interrupted by the King's birthday flyover, before seeing off Jovic.
