Emma Raducanu received a qualifying wildcard into the Abu Dhabi Open and that means that the Briton is set to play in qualies for the first time since her historic 2021 US Open run.
After accepting a main draw wildcard into Singapore, the world No. 56 made her debut at the tournament this week.
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old, it didn’t go well after she lost a three-hour three-set thriller to world No. 101 Cristina Bucsa in the first round.
After the Singapore exit, the organizers of the WTA 500 tournament in Abu Dhabi offered Raducanu a wildcard – not a main draw one – but a qualifying.
And since she has accepted it, that means she will have to win two matches over the weekend to qualify for the tournament.
Last year, the former world No. 10 made her Abu Dhabi debut, beating Marie Bouzkova in her opener before falling short to Ons Jabeur in the round-of-16.
Emma Raducanu and Ons Jabeur© YouTube screenshot
Raducanu received criticism and backlash over avoiding qualifying events
Last year, the Briton didn’t get a direct entry or a main draw wildcard for the French Open and some WTA 1000 tournaments.
And after she decided to skip qualifying, some started arguing that she was deliberately avoiding qualifying and that led to criticism and backlash.
However, she denied that was the case.
“I think playing qualies is not something that I am against,” Raducanu told BBC Sport last August.
“If you get through those two rounds you feel you’re adjusted to the court. If you’re playing a seed, you have a better eye for the ball, a better feel – it’s not that I am against it at all.”
The 22-year-old last played qualifying in 2021, when she famously won a total of 10 matches at the US Open to become the first-ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
Raducanu produced an outstanding run the last time she played in qualies and there is no doubt that she would love to do something similar again.
Tennis World USA