Queens 2026 Recap: Serena's Return, Emma's Resurgence, and Donna Vekic's Title Run

Queens Was Proof That the Small Tournament Wins

This was a grass week I did not want to end, and almost all of it happened at Queens. Kaya was on the ground covering the WTA for Ground Pass and Nick was there as a fan with his mum, so this recap comes straight from the grounds.

If you take one thing from this episode, let it be this. Nick got to see Emma Raducanu warm up close enough to almost reach out and touch her, watched Serena Williams play live, and stood right next to Leylah Fernandez during a rain delay, all for a fraction of what those same players would cost you at Wimbledon. That is the whole case for the small tournament in one trip. You get the top names, you get real access, and you get a venue you can walk across in five minutes.

Serena Williams was the headline, and seeing the stadium fill up fuller for her doubles than for almost anything else told you everything. What changed my mind on her return was not the tennis itself, it was the fans. So many people came late to her career or never got to see her live the first time, and now they get that second chance. That is what this comeback is really about.

Emma Raducanu looked the best she has since her 2021 US Open title, back working with Andrew Richardson and clearly happy playing at home. She reached the final before running into a red hot Donna Vekic, who went from lucky loser all the way to the trophy. Do not sleep on qualifying, because we keep being proven right. Tatjana Maria, the defending champion, was left without a wild card and had to grind through qualifying anyway, and she pushed Elena Rybakina to the brink before falling. And Robin Montgomery capped the week by winning her first WTA title after a long road back from wrist surgery.

We also got into Ben Shelton beating Taylor Fritz in Stuttgart, Kamil Majchrzak winning in 's-Hertogenbosch, and Dan Evans retiring, one of the last real rock star personalities in the game. Then we looked ahead to a stacked week across Queens, Halle, Berlin, Nottingham, and even a grass Challenger in Dublin.

Listen to the full episode on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

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