Emma Raducanu's dream of being seeded for the Australian Open may be in jeopardy after she decided to cut her WTAseason short. The British tennisstar called time on her campaign early following a tough match at the Wuhan Open.

It's been a year of highs and lows for Raducanu. She found herself wilting under the Chinese heat earlier this month, retiring during the second set of her face-off with Ann Li in Wuhan.

This led to the decision to wrap up her season prematurely, causing her to miss out on the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the Hong Kong Open. However, this move could potentially derail her long-term ambition: securing a seed for the Australian Open.

"My goal for the coming weeks is to try to be seeded at the Australian Open," Raducanu declared in Wuhan before her unfortunate first-round retirement.

"I will do everything I can to achieve that. The higher my ranking is, the better. You might have better chances of advancing in the draw, but you can still be seeded and play against the best players quite early in tournaments. There is also an element of luck. But you have to do your best in all situations to increase your chances."

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With Raducanu finished for the year she presently sits at 28th in the WTA rankings. To secure a seeding for the opening Grand Slam of the new season in Melbourne, players must rank within the top 32.

That leaves her in relatively good shape but since she can no longer accumulate ranking points, she could find herself in a helpless situation. Those surrounding her in the rankings could heap on the pressure with some strong results to conclude the year.

Stars such as Maya Joint, Sofia Kenin, Anna Kalinskaya and McCartney Kessler are all lingering around Raducanu with a few tournaments remaining.

If multiple players advance and pull off deep runs in competitions, Raducanu could find herself plummeting down the rankings with no ability to fight back.

However, it must be noted that some of those just outside the top 32 who would need to climb past her have little opportunity of doing so. World No. 34 Barbora Krejcikova wrapped up her season early too thanks to some injury troubles.

World No. 33 and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova also sustained an injury in Tokyo this week and has made the tough decision to conclude her campaign now.

She took to Instagram and announced: "Honestly. Probably the hardest one of my life. Not just because of the pain, but because keeping your head up when things don't go your way is a whole different sport.

"I've learned that being healthy - like really healthy - is the most important thing. Body, mind, everything. So yeah, ending the season in pain again wasn't the plan, but that's life.

"I'm so thankful for the people around me who kept me grounded, who supported me on the worst days and made me smile on the good ones. You know who you are."