Emma Raducanu was closing in on becoming seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since the 2022 US Open.
Raducanu is a former US Open champion, and is currently enjoying her best run of form since winning her maiden Grand Slam title.
This has enabled the Briton to climb up the rankings, and put Raducanu in contention to be a seed at the US Open this year.
However, after Raducanu lost a close-fought match to Aryna Sabalenka, she was made to wait to find out if she would be seeded for the New York major.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty ImagesEmma Raducanu has been pushed out of the seeded places for the US Open
Grand Slam singles draws have 32 seeded players, but after both Paula Badosa and Qinwen Zheng withdrew from the US Open, this meant that the player ranked at 34th would be the last seed.
Raducanu was occupying that 34th place in the live rankings, but was waiting on other results to see if she would remain there.
However, after Veronika Kudermetova beat Clara Tauson at the Cincinnati Open, she has now overtaken Raducanu and pushed her out of the seeded places.
There is still the possibility that Raducanu could be seeded, with there currently being question marks over Mirra Andreeva’s US Open participation.
However, Raducanu may also slip down the rankings further, with Magda Linette just one win away from overtaking the 22-year-old.
Why Emma Raducanu not being seeded for the US Open may not be a bad thing
Although it would have given her some assurance, Raducanu being seeded may not have been as good as it looked.
Being seeded means that you are guaranteed not to play another seed until at least the third round, whereas Raducanu could now play anyone including world number one Sabalenka from the first round.
This could be a problem for Raducanu, as her Grand Slam losses this year have only come to either Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek.
However, there is also a possibility that Raducanu could now avoid these players with a kind draw.
If Raducanu was seeded between 25th and 32nd, it would have guaranteed her a draw against a top eight seeded player in the third round.
Despite it looking likely that Raducanu will miss the seeded cut for the US Open, she has been very open about it being a goal of hers for the Australian Open next year.
That is currently looking likely to happen, as Raducanu is currently forecasted to end the year as the world number 27 according to the live WTA race.
Raducanu will now have her eyes set on the US Open, as she looks to win a match in New York for the first time since her shock run to the title in 2021.
Before she sets her sights on singles, Raducanu will play alongside Carlos Alcaraz in the revamped US Open mixed doubles event that takes place on August 19-20.