Emma Raducanu continues sneaking up world rankings as Brit rival makes dramatic fall

Emma Raducanu continues to be rewarded for her improved form, having now gone up to world No. 33 in the WTA rankings. The British tennis star has had a tough time with injuries and form in recent years, and will feel slightly more optimistic about her performances on the big stage of late.

Raducanu shot to fame after winning the US Open in 2021 as a teenage qualifier. At Flushing Meadows last month, she defeated Ena Shibahara and Janice Tjen before being knocked out by world No. 10 Elena Rybakina in a 62-minute third round clash. Despite that, the 22-year-old's performance in New York continued her trend of climbing up the women's tennis world rankings from No. 39 at the start of the tournament.

After going up two spots last week, Raducanu has now again ascended a single place to become world No. 33 - a respectable jump from being No. 60 at the beginning of the year. It marks her best ranking since July 2022, when she reached a career high of 10th in the world.

Raducanu, who faces Jaqueline Cristian at the Korea Open on Tuesday, has come a long way since three years ago, where her defence of the US Open title ended at the first time of asking in a straight-sets defeat to Alize Cornet. Her persistent struggles that year led her to tumble down the standings to 83rd.

One player who will now be experiencing some of the frustration Raducanu felt at the time is fellow Brit Sonay Kartal. The 23-year-old from Brighton has fallen an astonishing 29 places this week, from world No. 53 to 82.

It follows a crushing 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 defeat to Brazilian 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round of the US Open in August. She admitted to feeling "helpless" as she was disappointingly knocked out, having suffered with debilitating cramp.

"It was tough. I've never lost a match from cramp before, ever. It was a little bit odd for me," said Kartal, who was making her New York main-draw debut. When asked how cramps affected her, she added: "Where wasn't I feeling it? Calves, quads, hamstrings and my fingers on the racquet."

Kartal was knocked out in the round of 32 at Tennis in the Land earlier that month by Solana Sierra. Prior to that, she suffered a round of 16 defeat at Wimbledon in two sets to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.