Jodie Burrage has the British number one ranking and a top-100 place in her sights as she looks to write a positive narrative this grass-court season.
Bone stress in her arm forced the 24-year-old to miss her chance to qualify last month for the French Open, where no British women were in the main draw for the first time since 2008.
It was particularly frustrating for Burrage because she had just reached her career-high ranking of 106 after winning a second-tier tournament in France and was only a win or two away from overtaking Emma Raducanu to become the country’s leading woman.
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“Obviously missing the French was a really tough call for me,” Burrage told the PA news agency. “I’m not good with missing tournaments anyway but it was kind of a conversation of, ‘you either play French and then miss grass or you miss the French and then play grass’.
“There’s quite a few things that I missed out on and could-have-beens but that’s just what tennis is, ups and downs. Hopefully I’ll get there at some point, and I believe that I can get there, I’ll just have to wait a little bit longer.”
Burrage and the rest of the leading British women are beginning their grass-court campaigns this week at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy, and there is a good chance that by the end of the week one of them will have passed Raducanu.
Burrage and Katie Boulter are best placed but Harriet Dart and Katie Swan are also in contention, with the quartet all looking to push on into the top 100.
Burrage is optimistic the domestic picture will look healthier come the end of Wimbledon, saying of the French Open wipe-out: “It is a bit of a timing thing. There are obviously quite a few of us that are 110-140 so I’m sure in the grass-court season some of those girls are going to push through.
“It is obviously disappointing from a British outlook but I can’t really focus on the whole of British tennis. I’m at my career-high ranking and have had some really good wins and a really good season.”
Burrage admits she follows the ranking permutations – “I just want to know where I could be if I get wins, it motivates me” – but she is thinking wider than simply British number one.
“It’s definitely a big goal to be British number one,” she said. “Obviously rankings and stuff is done throughout the world so I guess I kind of focus more on your actual ranking.
“I would love to be able to say I got to British number one but, one, I’m not there yet, two, it could not happen, so overall I’m just looking at boosting my ranking up to get me in grand slam main draws and that’s my real focus.”
Another major target is to force her way into Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team for their play-off against Sweden in November.
Burrage was upset to miss out on selection for last year’s finals and then the qualifier against France in April, when she was the highest-ranked player available.
“It’s something that I would really love to do, to play a match for Great Britain,” she said. “I was disappointed not to be in the team but I can’t really do much about that now. My job now is to make sure I’m in the squad for next time. Hopefully I can do it because it’s one of my biggest goals.”
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Burrage talked things through with captain Anne Keothavong, and added: “If I take care of things week in, week out then I kind of take the question out of her hands a little bit so that’s what I’m trying to do.
“I spoke to Anne at length about it all. She’s got good comms. Hopefully for next time I can make it an easier decision for her.”
Burrage used the opportunities given to her on grass last year to push up the rankings, reaching the semi-finals in Surbiton and the final in Ilkley before beating then world number four Paula Badosa in Eastbourne.
She suffered a second first-round loss at Wimbledon, though, and bettering that is the first aim.
“I’m just looking forward to playing,” she said. “I’m still yet to win a match there so that’s my first goal, but I can’t wait. The ultimate goal is Wimbledon but we’ve still got five weeks before that so there’s a lot of work to be done first.”
Emma Raducanu’s run at Stuttgart Open ended by world number one Iga Swiatek
Emma Raducanu’s progress in the Stuttgart Open was halted in straight sets by world number one Iga Swiatek.
The Polish four-time grand slam champion, in her 100th week on top of the ATP world rankings, prevailed 7-6 (2) 6-3 to set up a semi-final showdown with Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
It was, however, an encouraging quarter-final performance from Raducanu, who has slipped to 303 in the world rankings after a torrid 2023.
Raducanu came in to the contest on a high after winning four matches in a row for the first time since her US Open title in 2021 and raised confidence levels were reflected in the opening exchanges.
Several booming returns from the 21-year-old Briton turned a 0-40 deficit into an immediate break of serve, but Swiatek levelled after edging a second game that featured seven deuces.
That see-saw battle set the tone for a marathon 70-minute opening set which produced plenty of high-quality ground strokes from both sides of the net.
The match went with serve from that point, with Raducanu superbly holding her nerve at 5-4 and 6-5 down to force the first set to a tie-break.
Swiatek completely dominated the tie-break though, winning the first four points before closing it out 7-2.
Raducanu was quickly in trouble again in the second set, falling 2-0 behind and covered in clay after losing her footing on the baseline.
She continued to fight and fended off break points in her next two service games to stay in the match.
But Swiatek kept up the pressure to finally end Raducanu’s resistance to move in to the last four.
Emma Raducanu promises more after reaching Stuttgart Open quarter-finals
Emma Raducanu says the best is yet to come as she continued her excellent form by making it through to the quarter-final of the Stuttgart Open.
The 2021 US Open champion beat Linda Noskova 6-0 7-5 in Germany to set up a mouth-watering last-eight tie with world number one Iga Swiatek on Friday.
Raducanu is making her way back after a torrid 2023 but looked excellent in winning her two ties in the Billie Jean King Cup at the weekend and then followed that up by swatting home favourite Angelique Kerber aside in Wednesday’s first round.
She stepped it up again to dispose of the world number 31 to set up a repeat of the 2022 quarter-final with Swiatek.
Despite all her troubles since winning the US Open in 2021, Raducanu never doubted the good times would return.
“I am not too surprised because I have been working really hard on the training court and I knew it was just a matter of time,” she said in her on-court interview.
“This isn’t my best I still have a long way to go. I am just really happy the rewards are starting to come on the match court.
“You know how it is when you are training day in, day out you feel like the results aren’t going your way. It is never that far away, that is something I am learning.
“Going through everything I have been through gives you a different appreciation, there is nothing like playing in front of fans and playing good tennis.”
Her progress will face its toughest test when against the Polish world number one, who is a master of the clay court, but the Briton knows she is not under any pressure.
Raducanu, whose world ranking of 303 will shoot up, added: “We played here two years ago in the quarters, I have come a long way in two years, and she has achieved a lot, I have nothing to lose, I can swing and enjoy it.
“Hopefully recover in time. I’m good.”
Emma Raducanu records impressive victory over Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart
Emma Raducanu claimed an emphatic 6-2 6-1 win over former two-time champion Angelique Kerber in the last 32 of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Fresh from helping Great Britain reach the finals of the Billie Jean Cup at the weekend, Raducanu continued her promising form on clay by breezing past the home favourite.
Both Raducanu and Kerber were playing as wild cards in Stuttgart, with the Briton tumbling down the rankings after time out to undergo three surgeries.
Meanwhile former world number one Kerber only recently returned from 18 months out on maternity leave.
Raducanu got off to a flying start by breaking Kerber in the opening game and despite an immediate response from the German, the 2021 US Open champion took control and claimed the first set in 41 minutes.
Kerber was broken again at the start of the second set and although she managed to haul back level, Raducanu stepped up a gear and shrugged off a brief visit from the trainer to wrap up an emphatic win.
Also in Stuttgart, reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff rallied from 4-2 down in the deciding set to overcome fellow American and world number 134 Sachia Vickery 6-3 4-6 7-5.
And Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur finally snapped a five-game losing streak to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6 6-3 7-6 (1), telling reporters: “I thought about withdrawing so many times because I couldn’t take another loss.”
In Rouen, Naomi Osaka’s return to clay was cut short by a 6-4 6-2 first round defeat to Martina Trevisan.
Like Kerber, Osaka only recently returned to the tour following maternity leave, and was competing as a wild card.
In the Oeiras Ladies Open in Portugal, Britain’s fifth-seeded Harriet Dart suffered a 6-3 6-1 defeat to home player Matilde Jorge.
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