Emma Raducanu has seen her WTA ranking slide further after choosing to sit out the US Open to concentrate on recovering her fitness.

The British tennis player, who stunned the sporting world with her maiden Grand Slam victory in New York five years back, opted out of this year’s competition due to a stress fracture in her right leg. The injury emerged during the clay-court season and worsened over the summer months, preventing Raducanu from getting match-ready for the US Open.

She hasn’t stepped onto the court competitively for 92 days, since her defeat to Donna Vekic in the Queen’s Club final ahead of Wimbledon. Consequently, her world ranking has suffered significantly.

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Following her loss to Vekic, Raducanu held the 31st position, but she has now tumbled to 96th, dropping seven spots since the US Open began.

This decline puts her in danger of falling outside the top 100 globally, though a strong showing at the forthcoming China Open could help reverse her fortunes.

Raducanu’s name appeared on the tournament entry list earlier this month, and she’ll be eager to regain momentum and halt her rankings freefall.

During last year’s China Open, she advanced to the third round, beating Cristina Bucsa initially before being eliminated by Jessica Pegula.

Raducanu captured the opening set against Pegula but couldn’t maintain her advantage once her opponent raised her game, ultimately succumbing 3-6, 7-6, 6-0.

After the match, Pegula commented: “That was a crazy match. It was a lot of fun.

“The tiebreak was intense, but I got myself back in and kept the pressure on.

“When she (Raducanu) hit the double fault, I knew I was still playing some good tennis, and it was right there.

“I got a little lucky with my two backhand winners.

“Other than that, I tried to keep fighting for as long as I could.

“The crowd was awesome, this court has been good to me, and I’m excited to play here. I’m happy I got through tonight, and I’ll try to rest and recover.”