Emma Raducanu on the brink of a significant rankings breakthrough after thrilling win
Emma Raducanu got her hard court season in America off to a thrilling start by beating No 7 seed Marta Kostyuk at the Mubadala DC Citi Open in Washington and now she is just one win away from a significant milestone.
Raducanu knew she would face a massive test against a player who had won two of their previous three meetings, but the 2021 US Open champion won the points that mattered as she recorded a fine 7-6(4) 6-4 win.
After a brutal battle between Raducanu and Kostyuk on clay at the Madrid Open in May, this was another draining battle in Washington and the good news for Raducanu is that the back problems she has been battling for some time did not appear to be affecting her.
“Extremely good win,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview. “Playing Marta first round is extremely difficult and we’ve always had some tough matches.
“I’m happy with the way I fought through the first set and in the second, stayed tough when I needed to.”
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This win was significant for Raducanu as it moved her up to No 41 in the live WTA Rankings and if she comes through her next match against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in Washington, she will leap above Katie Boulter and reclaim the British No 1 ranking.
Of more significance will be the opportunity to shoot up the WTA Rankings and potentially secure a seeding for next month’s US Open.
Raducanu only played one tournament on hard courts ahead of the US Open last year, as she reached the quarter-finals in Washington.
She now has a chance to make big leaps forward as she looks to collect ranking points in WTA 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows.
Raducanu will need to collect another 150 ranking points to give herself a chance to leap into the top 32 of the rankings and claim a seeding at the US Open, which will equate to a handful of wins in her next three tournaments.
Former British No 1 Tim Henman is backing Raducanu to kick on in her career, after some impressive wins on grass courts in recent weeks in a burst of positive form that also saw her put up a big battle against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon.
“She’s a much better player than she was in 2021 because she’s had four more years of experience and now she’s started to build more of a team around her,” Henman told Sky Sports News.
“She’s been competing so much more this year, which therefore emphasises the physical resilience that she’s got because she was always getting injuries.
”So I just hope she can continue in that vein because if she keeps doing the right things on the practice court, the results will come on the match because she’s that good a player. And I think it was great to see her on the biggest stage in our sport against the number one player in the world.
“She had a really good chance to win that match and I’m sure that will motivate her now moving onto the hardcourt swing in America to keep building.”
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