Emma Raducanu at the 2021 US Open (SkySports)
Emma Raducanu has become just the fifth British woman in the Open era to reach the top 10 of world rankings
Emma Raducanu has joined an exclusive club of British tennis stars featuring Virginia Wade, Sue Barker, Jo Durie, and Johanna Konta in claiming a place in the WTA top 10. The British teenager climbs into the world’s top 10 thanks to Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players. The new rankings were confirmed on Monday morning following Wimbledon, where no ranking points were on offer this year.
Raducanu benefitted from the lack of ranking points after her second-round exit at SW19. She made the fourth round last year, but the 2021 finalist, Karolina Pliskova was the biggest casualty as she dropped eight places to 15th after her 1000 points were wiped off.
Russian-born women’s singles champion, Elena Rybakina, and semi-finalist Simona Halep are both behind Raducanu in the rankings and would have gone above her with their Wimbledon points. As it stands, the Brit is 10th and largely protected at the moment because of her 2000 points at the US Open.
All movement in this week’s WTA rankings is due to the points from last year’s Wimbledon edition dropping off. Iga Swiatek’s reign at the top continues with 8,336 points, as she maintains a healthy lead over No. 2 Anett Kontaveit, who has 4,326 points. Maria Sakkari returns to her career-high ranking of No. 3, while Paula Badosa remains steady at No. 4. Ons Jabeur dropped three places to No. 5 despite reaching the final at the All England Club. She would’ve been No. 2 if points were awarded for this year’s edition.
Aryna Sabalenka stays put at No. 6, while Danielle Collins moves up a spot to a new career-high of No. 7. Jessica Pegula, Garbine Muguruza, Emma Raducanu, and Coco Gauff each moved up a spot to No. 8, No. 9, No. 10 and No. 11 respectively.
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