What Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter had to say about British No 1 ranking

The British No 1 ranking will change hands when the WTA Rankings is updated next week as Emma Raducanu will replace Katie Boulter at the top.

But despite the fight, the competition between Britain’s top two women’s players remains healthy and they have vowed to continue to support each other, although Boulter has told Raducanu “it’s kind of my turn” to turn up the heat.

Boulter had been Great Britain’s top-ranked woman in the rankings since June 2023 when she took over from Raducanu following the 2021 US Open winner’s two-year spell as No 1.

But Boulter’s early loss at the Queen’s Club event, coupled with Raducanu’s run to the quarter-final will result in them swapping places.

Raducanu, who is projected to rise to No 36 after the tournament, stated: “I wouldn’t say it’s the most important thing for me. I think having Katie in front, it was nice for me to have something to chase.

“Now I’m sure she’s going to enjoy that with me. The grass season is still young, and so is the rest of the season.

“But regardless, we have a healthy competition between us two. I want to see her do well; she wants to see me do well.”

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Boulter, meanwhile, will is expected to slip five spots to No 39 as she was also defending 250 points from her title run at the Nottingham Open a year ago.

“Tennis is a funny one,” the three-time WTA Tour singles title winner said. “Some people lose 250 points one week, some people lose zero, some people lose 100. It’s something that happens every single week.

“I’m very well aware that I lost 250 this week, because Nottingham is next week and the scheduling’s been different. Of course I personally want to be getting my ranking moving in the right direction.

“I’m very happy for her to be British No 1. But at the same time, it’s going to be fun for me to chase her now, and I think she’s been doing that for a while. Now it’s kind of my turn.”

Raducanu, of course, will move even further ahead of Boulter in the rankings if she reaches the semi-final at Queen’s Club.

But it won’t be easy as she will face top seed Zheng Qinwen in the quarter-final.

The world No 5 overcame a second-set slump to beat American Mccartney Kessler in the second round.

“Qinwen’s obviously top 10 in the world, had an amazing year, great last couple of tournaments last few months on the tour, and I think she’s very dangerous, top seed, definitely the favourite,” Raducanu said.

“But I think I have had two good matches here, and looking forward … I’m just trying to stay as focused as I possibly can.”

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