Katie Boulter dismisses Emma Raducanu ‘pressure’ in British rankings battle

British No 1 Katie Boulter believes she does not feel any pressure at the Madrid Open as Emma Raducanu and Sonay Kartal climb the world rankings.

Boulter has been the highest-ranked British player for the past two years but Raducanu moved up to 49th after reaching the Miami Open quarter finals last month and Kartal is 60th thanks to advancing to the last-16 in Indian Wells.

But Boulter, who defeated Katerina Siniakova in the first round in Madrid to claim her first WTA win on clay, welcomes the competition.

‘I'm very comfortable in the seat that I am and I know that every single person has a different journey,” the 28-year-old told the BBC.

“My journey is not going to be compared to anyone else's – I'm proud of that.

Boulter reached a career-high ranking of 23 in November but has since moved down to a position of 40th after starting the season with five wins and five defeats.

“I've been the British number one for two years, it's been a fair while now. It's something which I'm quite used to,” Boulter said.

“Obviously I've dropped a little bit from last year but due to the fact I've not been able to play.

“For me I just need to try and stay healthy. That's that most important thing and then the ranking will take care of itself.”

On Tuesday, Boulter recovered from losing the first four games against Katerina Siniakova to reach the second round of the Madrid Open, winning 4-6 6-2 6-1.