Emma Raducanu is facing the prospect of heading into the US Open unseeded after her heavy defeat in Montreal. It was shaping up to be another positive tournament run for the Brit, who made it to the semi-finals in Washington just over a week ago, but her outing at the Canadian Open was ended abruptly by Wimbledon finalist Amanda Anisimova.
After breezing past Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Peyton Stearns in the first two rounds, Raducanu was thrashed 6-2 6-1 by fifth seed Anisimova on Saturday. The result, and those of her tennis rivals, have seen Raducanu drop down to 38th in the WTA’s live rankings.
She went into the Canadian Open ranked 33rd – a healthy position from which to break into the top 32 and bank herself a vital seeding for the US Open later this month. A seeding would guarantee that Raducanu avoids meeting the very best players in the early rounds of the year’s final Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows.
But the 22-year-old is now six places off where she needs to be, with Naomi Osaka, Xinyu Wang and Dayana Yastremska all moving up amid strong showings in Montreal.
The pressure is now on Raducanu to bank ranking points at the upcoming WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati. Realistically, a run to the round of 16 is the minimum she needs to break into the top 32.
One of the benefits for Raducanu is that she has no ranking points to defend leading up to the US Open. She did not play any warm-up tournaments in preparation for last year’s trip to New York so WTA events in Cleveland or Monterrey could be opportunities for her to make ground.
It remains to be seen whether the Brit and her camp prioritise a seeding or staying fresh after last year’s debacle, when Raducanu was knocked out in the first round of the US Open by Sofia Kenin before admitting to flaws in her scheduling in a teary press conference.
“I feel down, I feel sad,” said the 2021 US Open champion. “Obviously, this is a tournament I really want to do well in. I was maybe a bit slow starting. Yeah, I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open.
“You know, I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good. You feel like everything’s automatic. So yeah, I think I can learn from it and manage my schedule slightly differently.”