Katie Boulter battled to an impressive three-set win to seal her place in the second round of the French Open and she could be eyeing up a return to the British No 1 ranking over the next few weeks.

With Emma Raducanu sliding backwards after her first round exit at Roland Garros, Boulter offered an increasingly rare lift for British tennis fans by grinding out a battling 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win against American teenager Akasha Urhobo.

Urhobo was given a wild card for a first trip to Paris and her potential was evident in a tight match, but this was a good draw for Boulter and she eventually got over the line to seal a valuable win.

“I really expected to feel a bit better today walking on the court but I wasn’t fully there,” said Boulter.

“Whether it was just a little bit of the conditions, a little bit of the last few weeks, I haven’t quite got enough rest, I’m not entirely sure. The last couple of days I’ve been pretty tired going on the practice courts.

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“I think for me it was a little bit of a roller coaster. I think some parts of it were good, some parts of it I was almost playing to what she was giving me. I think that’s almost where I got myself in a little bit of a pickle.

“I’m happy with today, ultimately. I got through and sometimes, actually, that’s what these matches are about. They’re about mentally just trying to get over the line any way that you can and giving yourself the best chance to play better the next day.”

It was only Boulter’s second Roland Garros win of her career and it propels her up to No 69 in the live WTA Rankings after a challenging year with injury problems has seen her ranking take a dip.

Raducanu is down to No 40 in the live rankings after her first round defeat against world No 68 Solana Sierra on Monday and while she has a comfortable lead over Boulter in the rankings, it could evaporate quickly.

Raducanu has plenty of points to defend following her run to the quarter-finals at the Queen’s Club tournament last year and she also reached the third round at Wimbledon before losing to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a compelling contest on Centre Court.

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So she has more ranking points to defend than Boulter and if the player who played double with at the Queen’s Club last year has a good run of form on her favoured grass courts, she could challenge for the British No 1 ranking by the end of the grass court season.

Sonay Kartal could also be in the mix in the battle for the British No 1 ranking, but she has struggling with injury issues over the course of 2026.

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