Big Australian Open seeding boost for Emma Raducanu in first Grand Slam after US Open win

Tennis News
Emma Raducanu enjoys a light-hearted moment

Emma Raducanu is seeded 17th for the 2021 Australian Open with the British No 1 set to play in her first Grand Slam since her incredible US Open success.

The 19-year-old was unseeded when she became the first qualifier – man or woman – to win a major as she won 10 matches in a row without dropping a set en route to lifting the title at Flushing Meadows in September.

In fact, the US Open was only her second Grand Slam main draw appearance as she made her Wimbledon debut in June, reaching the fourth round before retiring during her clash against Ajla Tomljanovic.

It will be a different story for the teenager at Melbourne Park as she is seeded 17th – one spot below her current WTA Ranking of 18th.

World No 1 Ashleigh Barty is, unsurprisingly, top seed for the hard-court Grand Slam with Aryna Sabalenka, Garbine Muguruza, Barbora Krejcikova and Maria Sakkari completing the top five.

There is also a big breakthrough for Ons Jabeur as the Tunisian, the first Arab player to be ranked in the top 10, is seeded ninth.

Defending champion Naomi Osaka is seeded 13th with the four-time Grand Slam winner missing large chunks of the 2021 season after opting to take a hiatus after the US Open.

There are 12 Grand Slam champions amongst the 32 seeds with Barty, Muguruza, Krejcikova, Iga Swiatek (8), Sofia Kenin (11), Osaka, Simona Halep (14), Angelique Kerber (16), Petra Kvitova (20), Victoria Azarenka (24) and Jelena Ostapenko (26) all falling in this category.

Emma Raducanu

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