Nottingham Open: Raducanu edges ahead before bad light halts all-British semifinal

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu won a marathon tie-break to edge ahead of Katie Boulter in an all-British semifinal at the Nottingham Open before bad light halted play on Saturday.

The pair spent most of the day waiting for rain to clear before the match started soon after 6:30 pm local time (1730 GMT).

But only one set was possible before darkness, rather than a downpour, saw the match held over until Sunday.

Raducanu, in her first semifinal since stunning the tennis world by becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title at the 2021 US Open, won it 7-6 but only after taking a protracted tie-break by 15 points to 13 against defending champion Boulter.

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The 21-year-old Raducanu was set to face Fran Jones on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the grass-court tournament — a warm-up event for Wimbledon, which begins on July 1.

But her fellow Briton withdrew because of a shoulder injury.

Earlier in the day, Karolina Pliskova advanced into the semi-finals after defeating Tunisian top-seed Ons Jabeur, a fellow former Wimbledon finalist, 7-6 (10/8), 6-7 (3/7), 7-5 in a hard-fought contest.

The Czech will take on France’s Diane Parry in the second semi-final on Sunday with the Nottingham final scheduled for later that same day.