Emma Raducanu’s position as the British No. 2 is under threat following her early exit at Indian Wells. The 22-year-old lost in the opening round, allowing her childhood rival, Sonay Kartal, to close in on her ranking. Kartal, the British No. 3, entered the tournament as a lucky loser and has since made an impressive run to the last 16, sitting just 14 points behind Raducanu in the live rankings.
Kartal and Raducanu were former junior competitors in national tournaments, but Kartal is now on the verge of overtaking the former US Open champion. After defeating world No. 17 Beatriz Haddad Maia in the second round and Polina Kudermetova in the third round, Kartal has climbed to a provisional No. 63 in the rankings, while Raducanu is projected to drop to around No. 60.
If Kartal advances to the quarter-finals by defeating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the next round, she will officially surpass Raducanu with 1,088 ranking points compared to Raducanu’s 1,007. However, even if her run ends, she has a strong chance to overtake Raducanu in the coming weeks, as she has no ranking points to defend until April.
Raducanu, on the other hand, will have opportunities to regain points at the Miami Open but faces the challenge of defending 108 points from her Stuttgart quarter-final run last year. With Kartal gaining momentum and Raducanu needing to defend her ranking, the battle for Britain’s No. 2 spot remains highly competitive.