Having failed to anticipate the LTA\u2019s refusal, Maria entered the second-tier Lexus Birmingham Open, which starts this week, but she now finds herself in a quandary. Should she reach the quarter-finals in Birmingham, she will be unable to travel to Queen\u2019s Club for the qualifying event at the end of this week. And if she cannot defend her title, her ranking will automatically plunge outside the world\u2019s top 100.<\/p>\n
The HSBC Championships will feature 28 players. Eighteen of these have earned their places via ranking alone, while six more will go through qualifying. The remainder are beneficiaries of four wild cards presented at the discretion of tournament organisers.<\/p>\n
Emma Raducanu \u2013 who made a late decision not to play in Birmingham next week despite having previously intimated that she was looking for a wild card into that event \u2013 is the only British woman with a high enough ranking to play at Queen\u2019s on her own merit.<\/p>\n
Any other Britons \u2013 who would presumably include Katie Boulter, Fran Jones and Harriet Dart \u2013 would have to either come through qualifying (for those whose rankings are high enough) or hope for a wild card from the LTA.<\/p>\n