Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter are set to battle it out for the British No.1 spot at Queen’s this week, after the 2021 US Open victor enjoyed a welcome climb up the rankings. Raducanu, who has previously been ranked as high as 10th in the world, reached the second round of the French Open but was beaten by eventual semi-finalist Iga Swiatek.
The British duo paired up in the opening round of the doubles event in west London, as women’s tennis made its long-awaited return to the historic venue after a 52-year hiatus. They got off to a winning start, despatching Fang-Hsein Wu and Xinyu Jiang, but they’ll quickly turn attention to their respective singles campaigns, with Raducanu and Boulter having been placed on opposite sides of the draw.
It’s set up the mouth-watering prospect of an – albeit unlikely – all-British final in the first Queen’s women’s tournament since 1973, but regardless of how far the pair get, they’ll be battling it out for the title of Britain’s No.1 female tennis player. It comes after Raducanu moved up to 37th in the WTA rankings – her highest position since August 2022 and just three spots behind countrywoman Boulter.
Raducanu leapfrogged two-time Wimbledon champion Ons Jabeur in the process and will be eyeing up the 500 points on offer for winning the tournament. Just 127 points separate Raducanu from Boulter, meaning even a run to the semi-finals could be enough for her to wrestle the British No.1 spot back. If not, outperforming Boulter in the grass court season, including Nottingham, Eastbourne, Berlin and the big one, Wimbledon.
She’ll kick her singles campaign off against Cristina Bucsa on Tuesday, with Raducanu, speaking on Monday, saying: “It was good to test it out and see how it goes in the match. And I have been managing it, and I think I will continue to. Hopefully it stays in good shape for tomorrow. And I have been managing it, and I think I will continue to. Hopefully it stays in good shape for tomorrow.”
On the pair’s fledgling doubles partnership and whether it will extend to Wimbledon, Raducanu said: “We haven’t spoken about it. It worked pretty well, so we’re just going to keep on trying to do as best we can this week.” Boulter, tongue in cheek, chimed in: “Scrap what she said – we’re going for the Wimbledon title! No, I’m just kidding.”