Katie Boulter stuns world No.2 Elena Rybakina to reach Queen's Club semifinals

British wildcard Katie Boulter pulled off the biggest victory of her career on Friday, overcoming world No.2 Elena Rybakina in an epic three-set battle at the Queen's Club. The world No.73 won 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 in two hours and 39 minutes to advance to the semifinals of the HSBC Championships, where she will face Croatia's Donna Vekic.

Boulter played two matches on the day, having earlier defeated Romania's Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-1 in a second-round match postponed from Thursday due to rain. Rybakina, the top seed, had earlier beaten defending champion Tatjana Maria 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-0.

"Honestly, I am not really sure what to say. I really feel like this win goes to the crowd that got me through it tonight and stayed out here," Boulter told BBC Sport. "I just tried to keep backing myself and go for it. If you don't go for it, you're going to regret the things you've worked so hard for."

She added: "I'm standing here a winner because I trusted my game, I trusted my team. I'm so proud of today. It's my first semi-final here, it's a really special one. I'm wanting more so I'm going to keep pushing and get myself ready for tomorrow."

Vekic, a lucky loser who entered the main draw after Marta Kostyuk withdrew with an ankle injury, is into her second tour-level semifinal of 2026 and will aim for her first final since Bad Homburg in 2024.

Fellow Briton Emma Raducanu also progressed to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Sorana Cirstea. Her last-eight match against lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova was moved to Saturday due to lengthy earlier matches. Raducanu could face 18-year-old Iva Jovic in the semifinals; Jovic upset 2025 Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 for her first top-five win.