Emma Raducanu earns important boost for US Open defence after Williams and Azarenka wins

Emma Raducanu has earned a boost in the rankings ahead of the US Open following her successful week in Cincinnati. The Brit is back up to No 11 in the world after stunning former world No 1s Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka at last week's Western & Southern Open.

Raducanu is just seven days away from beginning the mammoth task of defending her US Open title. The 19-year-old made tennis history when she became the first qualifier ever to lift a Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows almost a year ago, winning ten consecutive matches without dropping a set.

The Brit has struggled with mixed results since, going 15-18 in wins and losses, but finally found her best form in Cincinnati last week as she earned two of the biggest wins over her career over Williams and Azarenka. Raducanu needed just 64 minutes to dispatch the 23-time Grand Slam champion 6-4 6-0 days after Williams announced she would soon be retiring.

And the British No 1 returned to the Centre Court less than 18 hours later to pick up exactly where she left off, winning a second-consecutive bagel set en route to a 62-minute 6-0 6-2 victory over the two-time Australian Open champion. It was Raducanu's debut in Cincinnati, and she fell to top-ranked American Jessica Pegula in the following round but left full of confidence.

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The US Open champion will now be feeling even more positive about her upcoming title defence after climbing two spots in this week's rankings update to No 11 in the world - just one spot away from her career high. Raducanu explained how she had managed to find her US Open-winning form just in time during last week's Western & Southern Open.

"In the past year, I