Emma Raducanu has pulled out of a second charity match ahead of the 2024 Australian Open although if all goes according to plan she will compete at Melbourne Park while she has also signed up for a WTA 500 in February.
Having missed the bulk of the 2023 season following surgery on her ankle and both her wrists, Raducanu finally made her return to competitive action at the ASB Classic in Auckland last week.
Following a three-set win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the first round, she also went the distance in the second round against Elina Svitolina, but ended up on the losing side.
Raducanu was initially set to play in the Australian Open qualifying tournament this week, but she was bumped up into the main draw following several withdrawals.
As a result, she signed up for a couple of exhibition matches, but she first pulled out of her charity match against fellow US Open champion Naomi Osaka on Tuesday and then followed it up by also withdrawing from Thursday’s Kooyong Classic exhibition encounter against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva.
The 2021 US Open champion has reportedly experienced “soreness” following an extensive session earlier in the week.
However, the 21-year-old is expected to take her place in the main draw with her first-round opponent set to be revealed after Thursday’s draw ceremony in Melbourne.
Emma Raducanu has opted against playing at Kooyong tomorrow so this is now going to be a lighter week of Australian Open preparation than originally intended. The draw, by the way, is at 2am GMT tomorrow morning
— Russell Fuller (@russellcfuller) January 10, 2024
What’s to come after the 2024 Australian Open?
Radcanu played in only five tournaments in 2023 and finished the disappointing campaign with a 5-5 record.
But she has already signed up for her third event in 2024 as she has accepted a wildcard entry for the Abu Dhabi Open.
Raducanu is currently ranked at No 299 and playing in Abu Dhabi could give her a rankings boost as she only has 10 points to defend between now and the Sunshine Double in March. The British youngster lost in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open and didn’t play any events again until the Indian Wells Open.
The third edition of the WTA 500 event runs from February 5 in the United Arab Emirates and it will be a high-quality field as three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur as well as reigning world No 3 Elena Rybakina have also signed up.
Fellow top 20 players Maria Sakkari, Barbora Krejcikova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko, Liudmila Samsonova, Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova and Caroline Garcia will also be in the main draw.
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