Emma Raducanu set herself a clear rankings target over the last few weeks and she may be on the brink of reaching out and grabbing it.
The 2021 US Open champion has opted out of playing for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Shenzen and instead, she is playing in the WTA 500 tournament in Seoul.
That decision sparked plenty of debate, with many in her homeland suggesting she should play for his country after they reached the finals of the most prestigious team competition in tennis, yet Raducanu’s goals have been realigned in recent months.
Solid form on grass court and North American hard courts gave her WTA Ranking a major boost and she is eager to use the final few weeks of 2025 to secure a seeded position at the opening Grand Slam of 2026.
If she can get into the top 32 of the rankings, she would avoid the prospect of playing one of the game’s biggest names in the opening round of the Australian Open, which could open the door for her to challenge for a place in the second week in Melbourne for the first time.
She could take a big step towards that goal over the next couple of weeks, with her appearance in Seoul giving her the chance to pick up the two wins she would need to climb into the top 32 of the WTA Rankings.
After that, she will play in the WTA 1000 event in Beijing and then move on to Wuhan for the last of the marquee WTA Tour events of the season.
If she were to win a couple of matches in those tournaments, Raducanu should be comfortably in the top 32 of the rankings heading into the new year and that would give her the prized seeded berth for the Australian Open.
Deeper runs in any of the upcoming tournaments on the WTA Tour’s Asian swing could allow Raducanu to make up even more ground in the rankings, with a place in the top 20 heading into the Australian Open increasing her chances of getting a favourable draw.
If she was seeded in those events, she could have reached the latter stages without taking out those elite players and it is a clear goal for her to attack that issue.
“This is where I’m at with my ranking,” said Raducanu. “I can play top opponents in the first, second, or third round. So I’ve just got to do my best in the next few months until Australia to just keep working to try and close the gap.
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