Raducanu cruises at Queen's Club; Eala sets up Jovic rematch

Great Britain's Emma Raducanu began her grass-court season with an impressive straight-set victory over Anna Blinkova in the first round of Queen's in London on Tuesday.

Raducanu won the rain-interrupted match 6-0, 6-3 in one hour to secure her first victory on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz since Indian Wells in March. After reaching the third round in Indian Wells, the British No. 1 was sidelined by illness and returned only in Strasbourg. She lost her opening matches in both Strasbourg and Roland Garros before this week.

Although Blinkova landed a higher percentage of first serves (67.5% compared with 62.5% for Raducanu), she won only 29.6% of those points, compared with 72% for the Brit. Raducanu also converted six of her eight break-point opportunities en route to victory.

Now ranked No. 42 in the PIF WTA Rankings, Raducanu will be aiming to reach the quarterfinals for a second consecutive year. Her run to the quarters last year remains the best grass-court result of her career.

"I feel like I started extremely well, and I think despite not having played a lot of matches," Raducanu told the media after the win. "I was really pleased with how I came out and was playing very free. I think I was just feeding off of the atmosphere, and it felt free, it felt clear, and a lot of clarity. Not necessarily thinking too much, not trying to do too much. It felt very natural."

She will next face No. 17 seed Sorana Cirstea who defeated qualifier Maddison Inglis 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in another first-round matchup. 

Kostyuk pulls out with ankle injury

Meanwhile, Roland Garros semifinalist Marta Kostyuk was forced to withdraw from the tournament because of a right ankle injury. The Ukrainian, who has risen to No. 12 in the rankings after reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal in Paris, will be replaced in the draw by lucky loser Donna Vekic, who will now face 17-year-old Briton Mika Stojsavljevic.

Eala sets up Jovic showdown

Filipina Alexandra Eala set up an intriguing second-round matchup against sixth-seeded Iva Jovic of the United States after both players won their opening matches in straight sets.

Eala, who who won last week's Lexus Birmingham Open, needed just 1 hour, 9 minutes to defeat qualifier Shuai Zhang 6-3, 6-2, while Jovic opened her campaign with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over another qualifier, Antonia Ruzic, in 1 hour, 23 minutes. Despite committing six double faults, the American converted five of seven break-point opportunities to win the first meeting between the two players.

The upcoming match will be the second career meeting between Eala and Jovic, with both encounters coming within a span of three weeks. Jovic won their first-round meeting at Roland Garros in straight sets last month.

Boulter upsets 8th seeded Fernandez

British hopes received another boost later Tuesday when home favorite Katie Boulter rallied from a set and a break down to upset No. 8 seed Leylah Fernandez 3-6, 7-6 (4), 7-5.

Boulter will next face Romania's Jaqueline Cristian for a place in the quarterfinals.