Nottingham Open: Emma Raducanu leads Katie Boulter after their semi-final was suspended

Emma Raducanu will resume her gripping Nottingham Open semi-final against fellow Briton Katie Boulter with a one-set lead after play was suspended on Saturday night.

The former US Open champion showed real grit and determination to win the opening set 7-6 after edging an epic tie-break 15-13.

Raducanu, who slipped and fell awkwardly early in the tie-break, finally converted a sixth set point with a smash at the net before quickly calling on the umpire to stop play due to the conditions.

British number one Boulter, 27, who had three set points of her own, agreed and faces a tough task now to defend her title.

The pair will return on Sunday morning, with the victor facing the winner of the second semi-final between Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova and French player Diane Parry.

The tournament was already behind schedule after being dogged by bad weather throughout the week, and it was further hit by rain on Saturday.

Play did not start until 14:30 BST, with Raducanu and Boulter only getting on court four hours later following an equally titanic quarter-final match between Tunisian top seed Ons Jabeur and former Wimbledon finalist Pliskova.

Their three-set encounter took two hours 33 minutes to complete, either side of another hour-long break in play for rain.

Sixth seed Pliskova, 32, eventually edged it 7-6 (10-8) 6-7 (3-7) 7-5.

The 2016 champion will face unseeded Parry, who overcame Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 6-3 7-6 (7-4) in a quarter-final tie also played on Saturday.

Earlier, 21-year-old Raducanu reached her first WTA semi-final since 2022 after her quarter-final opponent Fran Jones was forced to withdraw before the start of play because of a shoulder injury.

Fellow Briton Jones, 23, and Raducanu were due to open Saturday’s play on centre court.

“Hopefully everyone can understand that with the big events coming up, I’m not in a position to be taking many risks,” said Jones, with Wimbledon due to start on 1 July.