Emma Raducanu loses British No. 1 spot to Katie Boulter

Emma Raducanu won't be the British No. 1 anymore as Katie Boulter will take her spot. The latter will be the World No. 126 on Monday, June 12.

Katie Swan had the opportunity to take the British top spot, but she lost her chances after going down to Yanina Wickmayer in the 2023 Surbiton final, 6-2, 4-6, 6-7(1).

That means that the 26-year-old Boulter, who lost to Wickmayer in the semifinals of the same tournament, will be the best-ranked women's tennis player in her country.

"It tells us that the depth in British tennis is getting better and better," said the 26-year-old. We are getting stronger and hopefully, we can keep doing this," Boulter said after the Brits had three semifinalists in Surbiton.

Raducanu, meanwhile, will not feature at Wimbledon this year and may not return until 2024 after undergoing three surgeries on three different injuries.

She last played at the 2023 Stuttgart Open, where she lost to Jelena Ostapenko, 2-6, 1-6 in the first round.

In the midst of her surgeries and dropping out of the top 100, the 20-year-old also stopped working with her coach Sebastian Sachs after a six-month cooperation. She's currently looking for her sixth coach in two years.

---

Boris Becker: Emma Raducanu's surgeries are career-threatening

Emma Raducanu at the 2023 Miami Open

Former World No. 1 Boris Becker has described Emma Raducanu's multiple surgeries at 20 years of age as potentially "career-threatening."

The six-time Grand Slam champion urged caution to the Brit regarding her medical procedures.

"The surgeries that she has had are, in my opinion, career-threatening. Having surgery on your playing wrist, and as a two-handed player, the other wrist – and then on your ankle – is tough to bear for a young woman," Becker told the Guardian.

Raducanu broke out in 2021 after becoming the first qualifier in history to win the US Open, but has failed to keep herself going at the same level ever since. She eventually dropped out of the top 100.

Becker offered an explanation for the fall even though he's "not in her inner circle."

"I'm not in her inner circle, so I don’t know all the things that went off, although I’ve seen the coaching changes."

But as a young woman, all of a sudden, being on top of the mountain, you have to really dig in and find the resources and the team around you to guide you through the next 10 years," Becker said.