'Clinical' Raducanu races to straight-sets win at Queen's Club

After a stream of winners and plenty of smiles, Emma Raducanu offered a succinct verdict on her first WTA singles match at Queen's Club. "Very clean and clinical," she said.

- Sean Ingle

Indeed it was. Her Spanish opponent, Cristina Bucşa, is among the more streetwise players in the WTA Tour mid-ranks. But she had no answers as Raducanu raced to a 6-1, 6-2 victory in just over an hour.

"I was quite locked in today, so I'm very pleased with my performance," Raducanu said, before admitting that trying to be happy on court was part of a broader strategy to help her play better. "Going on to the court laughing at certain shots, or if I'm smiling if I have pulled off a great shot, it does help relax you," she said.

"I play my best when my personality is put on the court and I can express myself, and I feel like sometimes when I've been constrained to play a certain way, it hasn't necessarily worked. I just need to be free and expressive, and then certain moments of creativity can come up."

Tougher tests lie ahead, starting tomorrow with the world No 41, Rebecca Sramkova, in the last 16. But for a player who confessed to having "pretty low expectations" just two days ago, there is plenty in Raducanu's game that appears to be trending in the right direction.