Emma Raducanu running risk after ending season early as world rankings say it all.
Emma Raducanu was forced to end her season early after retiring from her first-round match at the Wuhan Open earlier this month and it could come back to haunt her.
Emma Raducanu’s dream of being seeded for the Australian Open may be in jeopardy after she decided to cut her WTA season short. The British tennis star called time on her campaign early following a tough match at the Wuhan Open.
It’s been a year of highs and lows for Raducanu. She found herself wilting under the Chinese heat earlier this month, retiring during the second set of her face-off with Ann Li in Wuhan.
This led to the decision to wrap up her season prematurely, causing her to miss out on the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the Hong Kong Open. However, this move could potentially derail her long-term ambition: securing a seed for the Australian Open.
“My goal for the coming weeks is to try to be seeded at the Australian Open,” Raducanu declared in Wuhan before her unfortunate first-round retirement.
“I will do everything I can to achieve that. The higher my ranking is, the better. You might have better chances of advancing in the draw, but you can still be seeded and play against the best players quite early in tournaments. There is also an element of luck. But you have to do your best in all situations to increase your chances.”
With Raducanu finished for the year she presently sits at 28th in the WTA rankings. To secure a seeding for the opening Grand Slam of the new season in Melbourne, players must rank within the top 32.
That leaves her in relatively good shape but since she can no longer accumulate ranking points, she could find herself in a helpless situation. Those surrounding her in the rankings could heap on the pressure with some strong results to conclude the year.
