Photo by Elsa/Getty ImagesMax KilhamWed, January 14, 2026 at 7:12 PM UTC·2 min read

Emma Raducanu had her best run on the WTA Tour since winning the US Open in 2021.

She put together a solid season, with consistent results coming at the Washington Open, Miami Masters, and Queen’s Club Championships.

Now ranked 29th in the world, Raducanu will be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2022 Australian Open when she takes part in the 2026 edition of that tournament.

But even with a good year under her belt, Raducanu still missed out on one of British tennis’s top honours.

Photo by Frey/TPN/Getty Images

Emma Raducanu has missed out on the 2025 LTA Female Player of the Year award to Sonay Kartal.

Kartal had a breakout season, reaching a career-high ranking of world number 44 and making fourth-round appearances at both Indian Wells and Wimbledon.

The British player, currently ranked 71st on the WTA Tour, also secured her first win over a top-10 opponent, beating world number five Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 at the China Open.

Kartal [pictured below, left], who is set to play at the Australian Open next week, also finished ahead of Francesca Jones in the voting.

Jack Draper has been named LTA Male Player of the Year despite missing almost half the ATP season through injury.

Draper’s strong start to the season included his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells and a runner-up finish at the Madrid Open.

Those results helped him reach a career-high ranking of world number five before his campaign was cut short by a left arm injury. He beat Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley to win this year’s award.

One of the standout moments of Kartal’s season came at Wimbledon, where she made a real impression on British tennis fans with her performance.

She started with an upset win over 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, coming through 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in the opening round.

That result was followed by victories over Viktoriya Tomova and Diane Parry before her campaign ended with a fourth-round loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Kartal joined Laura Robson, Heather Watson and Emma Raducanu as the only British women this century to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon.

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