Emma Raducanu had set herself a target of being in the top 32 of the WTA Rankings at the start of 2026, which would ensure she is seeded for the first Grand Slam of the year at the Australian Open.
Yet her ambitions could be even more lofty as there is a real chance she could be among the top 16 seeds if she continues her positive performances in what is left of this tennis season.
Raducanu reached a career-high of No 10 after her brilliant US Open win in 2021, but that position was not sustained as she needed time to adjust to life on the WTA Tour after her incredible breakthrough in New York in what was only her second appearance in a Grand Slam tournament.
She slipped outside the top 300 of the rankings after injuries and poor form following her initial breakthrough, but Raducanu’s second coming offers real potential for more sustained success.
After an empathic win in her opening US Open match as she beat Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2, Raducanu was in bullish mood as her surge in form continued.
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The joy has been back in Raducanu’s game in recent weeks after some solid win on grass courts and now that trademark smile is back on her face at a venue that provided her with her finest moment.
“I think now is the first time that I feel like I can come back to the US Open and really enjoy the memories that I made here,” she said.
“I can be proud of that and see it as a happy place. So for that, I feel very grateful for and very pleased about. So I feel in a much better place now.
“I’ve not won a match here in a long time. It has been on my mind. It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament for me. I did feel different coming into it this year. I felt like I was doing the right things day to day, but still, it’s in the back of your head. So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.”
That win against Shibahara fired Raducanu up to No 34 in the live WTA Rankings and she will break back into the top 30 on that list if she beats qualifier Janice Tjen in her second round match.
Raducanu will be a big favourite to beat Tjen as she is should have too much power and invention for an opponent ranked at No 149 in the world who won her first Grand Slam match when she beat 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova in an upset result on Sunday.
If Raducanu beats Tjen, she is likely to face a much bigger test as the in-form Elena Rybakina is likely to be lying in wait in round three.
That match may well end Raducanu’s US Open hopes for 2025, but she has a big chance to make more leaps up the rankings in what is left of this year.
Injuries affected Raducanu at this point of 2024 and it means she had just 70 points to defend in the final months of this year.
She will also be competing in bigger tournaments than she might have been last year due to her improved ranking so there will be chances for her to make up real ground on the players ranked ahead of her in the hard court swing in Asia that will include WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan.
Raducanu would only need to win a handful of matches to break into the top 20 of the rankings in those events and she is also likely to play in WTA 500 events in the coming weeks.
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