Emma Raducanu receives rankings boost following Katie Boulter's loss at Queen's Club Championships

Despite both ladies teaming up in the doubles event at the ongoing Queen's Club Championships, British tennis stars Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter were in a battle for the British No.1 spot, with the former currently holding the slight lead.

Both Raducanu and Boulter entered the singles event at Queen's, with Raducanu cruising through to the quarterfinals behind impressive wins over Cristina Busca and Rebecca Sramkova. However, Boulter was unable to join her compatriot in the final eight, defeating Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round but falling to fifth seed Diana Shnaider in the round of 16.

Boulter's loss hands Raducanu a huge opportunity

Both Boulter and Raducanu were set to drop points from last year’s Nottingham Open this week, with the popular event delayed until next week after the British grass-court season was modified. However, both athletes are in action this week at Queen's, following the reintroduction of the event to the WTA calendar.

Boulter was the World No.34 in the WTA Rankings heading into the tournament whereas Raducanu was only three spots behind as the World No.37. However, Boulter, who won the Nottingham title last year, dropped more points than Raducanu, who only reached the semifinals at the same event.

Therefore, Boulter would need to produce a significantly better result than her compatriot to remain the British No.1. Following her loss to Shnaider, the 29-year old dropped to World No.39 in the WTA Live Rankings, as she currently sits with 1326 points.

Conversely, Raducanu has 1399 points after her round of 16 win and is guaranteed to be the new British No.1 next week. The 2021 US Open champion could put more distance between herself and Boulter should she go further in Queen's, a difficult task as she's scheduled to face top seed Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals.