Emma Raducanu makes a big breakthrough in alternative tennis rankings

Kevin Palmer 16 Jul 2025 7:32 PM

Emma Raducanu in upbeat mood

Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon dream may have died for another year in a tight defeat against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka on the Centre Court, but her performances in the grass court season have fired her back into the top 20 of the alternative tennis rankings.

Raducanu returned to the British No 1 ranking position after her run to the quarter-finals in the WTA 500 event at the Queen’s Club last month and held onto the position until last Monday, when she was overtaken by compatriots Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal.

Yet her performances over the grass court season have fired Raducanu up to No 20 in the updated UTR Rating, which are based on the current form from the last few weeks and months rather than reflecting results that occurred up to a year ago.

The UTR Ranking is open to players of all levels of the game and the algorithm used provides an intriguing insight at the top of the game.

All players, regardless of age, gender, geography, or skill level, are rated on the same scale between 1.00 and 16.50 based on actual match results, with club players joining the world’s best on the ranking system.

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Raducanu’s impressive wins in 2025 that saw her piece together a fine run to the quarter-finals at the Miami Open and then show some good form on grass courts helped her to rise to No 20 in the UTR list, which is a full 25 places above where she sits in the official WTA Rankings.

The 2021 US Open champion has taken time away from the game in recent years after busy periods, but she is looking to get back on court quickly next week as she has entered the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington from July 21-27, where she will make her third appearance at the hard-court event.

She will also look to play in the WTA 1000 event in Montreal that gets underway at the end of July and will have a chance to play at the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati a week later.

Then she will return to the scene of her greatest triumph at Flushing Meadows for the US Open, with that event getting underway on Sunday, August 25th.

By then, Raducanu will look to have hired a new coach, with her temporary agreement with Mark Petchey coming to an end after Wimbledon.

Petchey has had a big impact on Raducanu’s game, but his broadcasting commitments mean he cannot commit full time to Raducanu and he has urged her to find an alternative coach.

“I think at the moment we are a bit more short term,” he told the Nothing Ventured podcast. “She’s practising this week in London and her next tournament is Washington, and she’ll stay in the States the whole time.

“Our situation is a little fluid at the moment. I am going to help her this week as much as I can, but I have some other commitments I can’t get out of.

“We are very aware she needs a second coach to come on board and maybe just one coach, not me, as well.

“All I am trying to do is facilitate the best possible environment for Emma to produce the tennis she can.

“Whether that involves me or does not involve me is not a question that I’m worried about. We are just trying to find something that will be stable or good for her.”

UTR RATINGS TOP 20

1. Aryna Sabalenka

2. Coco Gauff

3. Iga Swiatek

4. Ekaterina Alexandrova

5. Mirra Andreeva

6. Madison Keys

7. Zheng Qinwen

8. Elina Svitolina

9. Elena Rybakina

10. Marketa Vondrousova

11. Jessica Pegula