Emma Raducanu facing domestic rankings relegation at Wimbledon

Emma Raducanu headed into Wimbledon as the British No 1, but she could be in danger of sliding down to the No 3 spot by the end of the tournament.

With Raducanu defending points from her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last year, she has dropped down to No 45 in the live WTA Rankings.

That leaves her seven places behind Katie Boulter, who she replaced as British No 1 following her run to the quarter-finals at the WTA 500 event at the Queen’s Club last month.

Now Raducanu is in danger of falling even further behind in the British rankings after her former junior rival Sonay Kartal continued her impressive run of form with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova as she reached the third round for the second year in a row at the All England Club.

Raducanu and Kartal grew up together playing junior tennis against each other and now their rivalry has been renewed on court at the top of the game.

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Kartal’s rise to the upper end of the WTA Rankings took a little longer than Raducanu’s, who broke through in stunning fashion as she won the 2021 US Open.

Now 23, Kartal overcame a serious health problem at the start of last year to launch her career and the win against Tomova has moved her closer to Raducanu in the rankings.

Kartal is on course to secure a career high ranking after this run at Wimbledon and if she continues her Wimbledon run, she may overtake Raducanu in the WTA Rankings for the first time.

“I knew that match was going to be tough,” said Kartal after the win against Tomova.

“I knew I’d have to go out and win it. I felt good on court today. I was hitting it really clean. It was one of those good days at the office.

“I wanted to back that up this year. This tournament I wanted to show I’m at this level and can consistently play here.

“Last 12 months, I have thrown myself onto the scene. This year I’ve taken a conscious effort of only wanting to play the bigger matches against the best players on tour, day in, day out. I’m playing with more freedom and more confidence.”

Raducanu has insisted she is not concerned about the battle for the British No 1 ranking, as she set low targets for Wimbledon after a back problem in recent weeks.

“Truthfully, I don’t expect much from myself this year,” said Raducanu after her first round win against Welsh teenager Mimi Xu. “I know I’ve just been dealing with certain things.

“I just want to go out there and embrace the moment. I want to embrace the occasion. I know there’s not many opportunities to be playing at Wimbledon. You get it once a year and for a finite amount of time. I’m just looking forward to going out there and feeling the surroundings and the atmosphere.

“I just feel like the way that I’m going to do that is putting more time on the court.

“Maybe in the short term I feel a little bit more tired, but I know I’m going to improve in the long run by doing it. Even if I don’t see the results straightaway, they will come.

“For me, I love working, and I think that’s the stage I’m at right now is just to work, put the hours in, and get better.”

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