‘Nothing to lose’ – Raducanu on brink of rankings breakthrough and sends warning
Emma Raducanu has edged closer to a return to the world’s top 50 after reaching the quarter-finals of the Korea Open.
The British tennis star fired down 11 aces past eighth seed Yuan Yue in a 6-4, 6-3 victory to progress into the final eight in Seoul.
It is an impressive resurgence from the 21-year-old on the back of her crushing first round exit at the US Open.
Raducanu was bundled out of Flushing Meadows by Sofia Kenin and delivered a teary press conference in which she said she should have played ‘a little bit more’ going into the tournament.
Her loss to Kenin also meant she had still not won a match at the US Open since her unlikely victory in 2021, when – at the age of 18 – she qualified for the main draw and did not drop a set all the way through.
However, she has rebounded in a strong way in South Korea with a gruelling first round victory over Peyton Stearns, followed by a win against Yue.
Raducanu’s two wins has also fired her up the WTA rankings and has her knocking on the door of the top 50.
Before her match against Stearns, Raducanu sat 70th.
But the two wins at the Korea Open have catapulted her 16 places into 54th.
A win in the quarter-finals would push Raducanu into the top 50, but it will be a tough ask given she faces the No. 1 seed Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina, the world No. 13, enjoyed a first round bye and breezed past Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-2 to book a date with Raducanu.
Raducanu and Kasatkina have met twice before, with the Russian winning both contests in straight sets.
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The Briton conceded the hard courts in Seoul are more beneficial to Kasatkina’s game, but it won’t stop her from playing with the handbrake off.
“I think these courts suit her because they bounce quite a bit,” Raducanu said after her win over Yue.
“But for me, every time I get exposure to that top level of opponent, it’s invaluable. It allows me to build confidence.
“It’s a match where I don’t really have anything to lose.”
Even if Raducanu falls short against Kasatkina, she still stands a strong chance of breaking back into the top 50 as she does not have any ranking points to defend for the remainder of the season.
After the Korea Open, Raducanu will compete at WTA 1000 events in the form of the China Open in Beijing and the Wuhan Open.
She will also take part in a Hong Kong tournament at the end of October.
Raducanu’s block of events in Asia was something she’d looked forward to for quite some time and believes it will bring the best out of her.
“I thrive in Asia,” Raducanu – whose mother is Chinese – told WTA Insider.
“It’s where I truly feel like home. So I’m buzzing for that trip even though it’s at the end of the year. I’m looking forward to going out there and trying to take it.”