Connect with us

Entertainment

Emma Raducanu on the brink of achieving her rankings goal – what comes next?

Published

on

Emma Raducanu may have been forced to end her season early due to injury and illness, but the British No 1 looks set to achieve her rankings goal despite being forced to pull out of her last two tournaments.

Get Sports Updates on WhatsApp

Join our WhatsApp channel to receive breaking sports news and insider stories.

Join us on WhatsApp

 

The 22-year-old appeared to be suffering from an illness as she battled the hot conditions in the Asian swing of the WTA Tour so it was no surprise when she confirmed she would be taking a break from tennis after she lost against world No 230 Zhu Lin in Ningbo Open in China.

Despite that disappointment, Raducanu can look back on 2022 with a degree of pride as she is up to No 29 in the live WTA Rankings and looks set to head into 2026 with her target of being in the top 32 secured.

Raducanu spoke to Tennis365 at the Wuhan Open earlier this month and told us that being seeded in the opening Grand Slam of 2026 at the Australian Open is a big ambition.

“It is a target of mine, I think for the next few weeks, I think is to try and be seeded in Australia and do do my best to be in that position,” she told us.

“I think the higher you can go, the better, maybe probability you have to make progress. But even still, you can be seeded and play one of these top players who are now seeded.

“It really depends on the luck of the draw. It’s just doing the best you can in that situation, giving yourself a better chance.

“I think I’ve just been happy with the improvements in the last few weeks I’ve made in my game, and I just want to keep going with that.”

There were some threats that she could be overhauled in the top 32 of the rankings if some of her rivals had picked up positive results in the final weeks of the season, but that seems unlikely to happen now.

So Raducanu will head into 2026 with renewed ambition and she will have a chance to boost her ranking further prior to the Australian Open.

Raducanu suffered some injury issues at the start of this year and that meant she headed into the Australian Open without playing any warm-up events.

She went on to perform well in Melbourne by picking with wins against Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova, who have both gone on to enjoy stellar 2025 seasons.

Raducanu has played in the WTA 250 in Auckland, New Zealand, in the past, but she may be tempted to play in the higher-ranked WTA 500 events in Perth and Brisbane ahead of the Australian Open.

If she was to win some matches in either of those events, she could push her ranking into the mid-20s by the time she gets to Melbourne for the Aussie Open.

The next time we will see Raducanu on court is likely to be at the exhibition event she has lined up for December that will also feature Carlos Alcaraz.

The duo signed up for the post-season “A Racquet at The Rock” exhibition event on Sunday, December 7 in New Jersey, United States. Frances Tiafoe will take on Alcaraz in that event, while Raducanu will play Anisimova.

They are also set to play in an event in Miami the following day, with Joao Fonseca and Anisimova also playing that event.

 

Entertainment

Paige Spiranac’s surprising NFL fandom confession triggers heated debate over loyalty, authenticity, and fan culture

Published

on

The 2026 NFL Draft starts Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the spotlight isn’t only on prospects and front offices. Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has again found herself pulled into NFL conversation, this time for her open support of multiple teams.

Get Sports Updates on WhatsApp

Join our WhatsApp channel to receive breaking sports news and insider stories.

Join us on WhatsApp

With the Steelers hosting the first round, her long-standing connection to Pittsburgh has resurfaced. But it’s not just about hometown ties. Her broader fandom, which stretches beyond one franchise, continues to draw mixed reactions at a time when fan loyalty is often treated as non-negotiable.

Paige Spiranac roots for 2 NFL teams: Who are they?

Paige Spiranac has never hidden where her loyalties lie, even if they don’t fit the usual mold. She has consistently pointed to her roots while leaving space for other allegiances.

“Both my parents are from Pittsburgh so I’ve been a Steelers ..fan since the day I was born. I also love the Bills. It’s a complicated relationship…Who’s your team?” she previously asked her followers. It’s a candid admission, one that reflects personal history more than calculated fandom.

Still, the reaction has been sharp. NFL culture tends to rew ..

 

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Quiet moments on the course can say a lot about what’s coming next.

Published

on

Sometimes the most important work happens when nobody is really watching.
Lexi Thompson was out on the 18th green, working through her putting during a practice round ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston.

Get Sports Updates on WhatsApp

Join our WhatsApp channel to receive breaking sports news and insider stories.

Join us on WhatsApp

It’s a simple scene, but it shows the kind of quiet preparation that goes into these big tournaments—getting the feel of the greens, adjusting to conditions, and building trust in every stroke.

These are the small details that can shape how a player starts when the pressure kicks in.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Predicting what will happen to Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson if LIV Golf collapses

Published

on

It looks like LIV Golf is over.

Get Sports Updates on WhatsApp

Join our WhatsApp channel to receive breaking sports news and insider stories.

Join us on WhatsApp

The Saudi Public Investment Fund has reportedly decided that this league simply isn’t worth the hole it’s burning in their pocket, and they’re pulling funds at the end of 2026.

That gives them less than a year to seek new investment. While CEO Scott O’Neil seems confident, it’s going to be extremely difficult to secure funding for a league that is operating at such eye-watering losses.

So this probably pulls the curtain closed on one of the most turbulent, frustrating, confusing, and ridiculous eras in golfing history. Hopefully, we can all return to some reality after the year is over.

But there is still so much uncertainty surrounding golf’s future thanks to this. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed saw the signs early and jumped ship, but they did that with some leverage. So what on earth is going to happen to the rest of these players who didn’t take the olive branch when it was offered to them?

Feelings will be hurt, and careers will be ended. Let’s take a look.

Jon Rahm rejoins the PGA Tour

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour under the returning member program, which saw him pay $5 million to charity, accept that he’ll receive no FedEx Cup bonus money, and agree he cannot be a sponsor exemption for the 2026 signature events.

 

That same deal was offered to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. They didn’t accept it, but a similar offer will likely be handed out to them again.

 

If LIV Golf folds, Rahm will not hold the same leverage as Koepka did, but he is a bigger star at this stage of his career. Make no mistake, the PGA Tour will want him back immediately.

But Rahm does risk leaving himself without any options at all. Reed didn’t come straight back to the PGA Tour, so he’s spending a year on the DP World Tour first. You’d imagine Rahm would consider doing the same, but it might not be so easy for him.

Rahm is in a feud with the DP World Tour, as the only one of eight players to reject a deal which would have seen him retain his full-time membership. If Rahm agreed to play in six DP World Tour events this year, then he could have played on both LIV Golf and the tour. He did not agree.

For now, his membership is at risk. So, will it be possible for him to spend a season on the DP World Tour like Reed? Maybe not. That makes it all the more likely that Rahm will be back on the PGA Tour the moment LIV folds.

Bryson DeChambeau does YouTube full-time

With DeChambeau, I don’t think it’s as much of a done deal that he returns to the PGA Tour. Not immediately anyway.

He’s been negotiating his contract with LIV, which expires at the end of this season. During these negotiations, he’s made it very clear that he is completely willing to step away from full-time competition and be a full-time YouTuber.

DeChambeau’s channel has over two million subscribers, so he could feasibly do that with all of the money he’s making there.

He was annoyed to see LIV move to a four-day format, so he could commit himself fully to being the content king. It would be a wild thing to do, but it’s also exactly the kind of move you could see the two-time major winner making.

He could qualify for The Open Championship and the US Open, and earn enough points there to play The Masters and the PGA Championship. It’s possible.

He does seem to live for competition, so maybe YouTube won’t quite scratch the itch, but it is on the table for DeChambeau. At least for a year until his suspension expires. Out of Rahm and DeChambeau, the American is absolutely the least likely to take a deal.

Continue Reading

Trending

error: Content is protected !!