Emma Raducanu has relinquished her title as the top-ranked British female tennis player following her exit at Wimbledon. The 22-year-old was defeated 7-6, 6-4 by Aryna Sabalenka on Centre Court, exiting the tournament in the third round with her head held high after a commendable performance.
Raducanu triumphed over Mingge Xu and Marketa Vondrousova with identical scorelines of 6-3, 6-3, leading up to her showdown with the world No. 1. However, the British hopeful fell short and consequently slipped down the WTA rankings.
The 2021 US Open champion has now dropped from world No. 40 to 45, falling behind two of her British counterparts in the process. As a result, Raducanu is now ranked as the British No. 3, trailing Katie Boulter (world No.41) and Sonay Kartal (world No.44).
Boulter exited Wimbledon ahead of Raducanu’s defeat, but her first-round victory over Paula Badosa earned her widespread praise. She fought for a 6-2 3-6 6-4 win against the Spaniard, before squandering an early lead and being knocked out of the competition by Solana Sierra.
“I mean, of course it hurts,” Boulter said following her defeat. “It’s a really tough pill to swallow. It always is here. Unfortunately it’s just the way that it is. Sometimes I just have to accept that my moment might not come at some point.
“I’m just going to keep working hard and keep trying my hardest. Ultimately that’s all I can do and keep putting myself out there and keep improving every single year.”
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Despite her disappointment, Boulter has claimed the British No. 1 mantle. Meanwhile, Kartal proved to be the most successful British woman competing at SW19.
The 23-year-old made it to the round of 16. She ousted Jelena Ostapenko in the first round and followed up with comfortable wins over Viktoriya Tomova and Diane Parry. Her quest to reach the quarter-finals was halted when she was defeated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenko.
Raducanu will be determined to reclaim her position as Britain’s leading female tennis player in the upcoming months. The tennis star found her loss to Sabalenka difficult to accept.
Visibly emotional after the match, Raducanu said: “It’s hard to take a loss like that. At the same time, I’m playing Aryna, who is a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort.
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“It does give me confidence because I think the problem before was that I felt like I was gulfs away from the very top.”
The British starlet can draw further encouragement from Sabalenka’s complimentary words during the post-match interview. “She’s fighting,” Sabalenka said.
“She’s playing much better. She’s more consistent. I can see that mentally she’s healthy. I think that’s really important. I’m pretty sure she’s getting there.”