Emma Raducanu got through to the quarter finals in the Stuttgart Open last week so has improved her ranking by 82 places to 221 but in the race singles rankings 24 places to 58. As a result she has been given a wildcard in the Madrid Open which starts today. Katie Boulter is seeded, Harriet Dart has to come through the qualifiers.
A good day yesterday for Katie Boulter, Emma Raducanu and Harriet Dart all getting through to the quarter-finals ay Eastbourne.
The most notable win was Emma Raducanu beating Jessica Pegula, the world number five. The first time in her career that she has beaten a top 10 opponent. It is thought that at this stage of her career she will be selective as to which tournaments she enters. For instance she turned down a wildcard entry into the French Open so as to concentrate on the grass court season,
Wimbledon starts next week, Katie Boulter is seeded 32. Harriet Dart automatically qualified for the main draw. Emma Raducanu, Heather Watson, Fran Jones and Lily Miyazaki have been given wildcards,
There are a couple of players who have got through to the 3rd stage of the qualifiers, Sonay Kartal, Hannah Klugman and Amami Banks. Hannah Klugman is 15 years old.
First round of Wimbledon includes:
Francesca Jones v Petra Martic
Katie Boulter (seeded 32) v Tatjana Maria
Harriet Dart v Bai Zhuoxuan
Ekaterina Alexandrova (seeded 22) v Emma Raducanu
Tamara Korpatsch v Lily Miyazaki
Greet Minnen v Heather Watson
Sorana Cirstea (seeded 29) v Sonay Kartal
The winners of Katie Boulter's and Harriet Dart's matches meet in the second round,
Ekaterina Alexandrova had to withdraw due to illness which meant that Emma Raducani's opponent was Renata Zarazua who had lost in the qualifiers but got a place in the main draw as a lucky loser. Tricky match for Emma Raducanu as she had been expecting a different opponent but did manage to win,
Lily Miyazaki and Sonay Kartal won their matches but Heather Watson lost.
Katie Boulter, Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones have their first round matches tomorrow.
Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart both won their matches today so meet in the second round.
Emma Raducanu is against Elise Mertens.
Lily Miyazaki is against the 14th seed Daria Kasatkina.
Sonay Kartal is against Clara Burel,
Francesca Jones has won the first set against Petra Martic, but lost the two other sets.
Emma Raducanu's second round match is the third one due on No. 1 Court today.Lily Miyazaki's and Sonay Kartal's matches are also due today.
Looks as if there could be a bit of rain at Wimbledon today, Thursday seems dry, Friday could be a washout other than on Centre Court and No. 1 Court as those have covers.
In the third round Emma Raduanu is against Maria Sakkhari, the 9th seed and Harriet Dart is against Xinyu Wang.
Those matches are scheduled for tomorrow but the forecast for tomorrow is such that there may only be play possible on Centre Court and No. 1 Court. A better chance of more play on Saturday, some on Sunday, but not all day, Monday and Tuesday seem more promising at present.
In the third round, Coco Gauff beat Sonay Kartel but Emma Raducanu is likely to grab the headlines as she's just beaten Maria Sakkhari 6-2, 6-2, She's against Lulu Sun, from New Zealand, who came through the qualifiers. I think she's already certain of getting back into the top 100 when the next rankings get released (after Wimbledon)
Harriet Dart lost her third round match. So Emma Raducanu is the only Brit left in the singles.
Emma Raducanu has pulled out of that mixed doubles match with Andy Murray as she's got some stiffness in her right wrist and needs to protect that. The doubles match would have been the 4th match on Court No. 1. The second match is still in progress and that match would not have started until around 8pm. Her match against Lulu Sun is scheduled to start at about 3.30pm tomorrow afternoon,
New post-Wimbledon rankings have in the top 100:
Katie Boulter 33 (from 29)
Harriet Dart 84 (from 100) and
Emma Raducanu 94 (from 135)
In the race singles rankings )based just on 2024 results):
Katie Boulter 26 (from 30)
Emma Raducanu 44 (from 56) and
Harriet Dart 72 (from 85)
Heather Watson is in the Olympics in the doubles with Katie Boulter in the women's and Joe Salisbury in the mixed. It is quite possible that she'll announce her retirement from professional tennis then:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/te...rticles/cn07p1p55g7o
@El Loro posted:Heather Watson and Katie Boulter through to the quarter-finals of the women;s doubles in the Olympics today. They were against the Brazil opponents who have better rankings than the GB pair. They face the Italian opponents tomorrow.
The Italians won.
GB through to the quarter finals in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals beating Germany. Emma Raducanu (first match after returning from another injury) and Katie Boulter won their singles matches so the doubles match (Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls) was not required.
The quarter finals against the current champions Canada is tomorrow.
Rankings as of today of Brits in the top 200:
Katie Boulter 24
Emma Raducanu 59
Sonay Kartal 84 (she plays mainly in ITF tournaments rather than WTA tournaments and has got to the final of a number of those)
Harriet Dart 102
Heather Watson 142
Francesca Jones 154
Yuriko Lily Miyazaki 182
Laura Robson has been announced as the tournament director for the new WTA 500 tournament at The Queen's Club in London, the first WTA tour level women's event in London for over 50 years. The event starts on 9 June next year. She steps down from that role at the lesser WTA 250 tournament at Nottingham. The only other WTA 500 tournament in the UK is Eastbourne/Rothesay.
2024 grass court season was:
Nottingham 10-16 June
Birmingham Classic (another WTA 250 tournament) 17-23 June
Eastbourne/Rothesay 24-29 June
Wimbledon 1-14 July
2025 grass court season:
Birmingham Classic 1-8 June
The new Queen's Club tournament 9-15 June
Nottingham 16-22 June
Eastbourne/Rothesay 23-28 June
Wimbledon 30 June-13 July