Why Katie Boulter’s Queen’s loss spells good news for Emma Raducanu

Oli Dickson Jefford 12 Jun 2025 3:08 PM

Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter.

Emma Raducanu impressed in her second-round match at Queen’s on Thursday – but had already been handed a notable boost ahead of the match.

Defeat for Katie Boulter in round two means that Raducanu will be the higher-ranked of the two next week, and that is hugely significant for the former US Open champion.

WTA Rankings scenarios

Both Boulter and Raducanu were set to drop points from last year’s Nottingham Open this week, with the event delayed until next week after the British grass-court season was revamped.

However, both women have been in action at the WTA 500 event in Queen’s, with little to separate the two in the WTA Rankings.

Boulter was the world No 34 heading into the tournament while Raducanu was only three spots behind as the world No 37, with both up four places after action in Roland Garros.

But, with Boulter dropping more points from Nottingham, she had fallen below Raducanu in the live rankings.

The 29-year-old dropped 250 points from winning the Nottingham title and fell to world No 38 provisionally, while Raducanu stayed as the world No 37 despite dropping 98 semi-final points.

Boulter needed to significantly better Raducanu’s result to remain as the British No 1 and got off to a good start, with a battling three-set win over Ajla Tomljanovic in round one.

However, she was then beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 by fifth seed Diana Shnaider on Thursday, ending any chance of being ranked above Raducanu next week.

Boulter has currently dropped to world No 39 in the WTA Live Rankings and holds 1,326 points, down 190 points on her official WTA total.

Prior to her second-round match on Thursday, Raducanu was the world No 37 in the WTA Live Rankings, with 1,351 points to her name.

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Raducanu’s opportunity

Raducanu is now guaranteed to become the British No 1 next week, and could put some significant distance between herself and Boulter, alongside the rest of the British field.

The 22-year-old faced Rebecca Sramkova on Thursday, with the Slovakian sitting at 38th in the WTA Live Rankings, directly between the Brits.

Raducanu sealed a convincing 6-4, 6-1 win, and she now holds 1,399 points, not only successfully defending her Nottingham points from 2024 but adding an extra 10 points to her tally.

That has pushed her up to world No 36 in the WTA Live Rankings, overtaking Olga Danilovic, who is not in action this week.

The battle between the two will likely continue regardless of how Raducanu fares for the remainder of the week, with the two competing in different tournaments this week.

Boulter will be at the WTA 250 event in Nottingham, looking to win her third straight title, while Raducanu has received a wildcard into the WTA 500 event in Berlin.