Emma Raducanu handed massive Madrid Open boost as former world No 1 opponent withdraws
Emma Raducanu will have to wait and see who she faces in the opening round of the Madrid Open after the withdrawal of her initial opening round opponent.
A Wildcard into the main draw in Madrid, in-form Raducanu was scheduled to face a blockbuster opener against former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova, who won her 17th WTA title in Cluj this year.
But it was today confirmed that the former US Open and Wimbledon finalist had joined fellow Czech star Marie Bouzkova in pulling out of what is the first WTA 1000 event of the clay court season.
The news will come as a huge boost to Raducanu, as she is likely to face a less-accomplished player in her opening Madrid match.
With the qualifying draw already underway, no player could be drawn automatically into the event to face the Brit, meaning she will face a qualifier or lucky loser in round one.
Raducanu will be optimistic about beating whoever she is drawn against in that contest, having impressed on clay in the Billie Jean King Cup against France and the Women’s Stuttgart Open over the past fortnight.
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She has also previously reached the third round in Madrid – beating Tereza Martincova and Marta Kostyuk in the Spanish capital two years ago – and will fancy her chances of a similar run this time around.
With no points to defend for the rest of the year, the former US Open winner will be looking to surge up the WTA Rankings this season and, after moving up over 80 places following Stuttgart, could be primed to make further inroads.
form on the clay @EmmaRaducanu‘s Stuttgart quarter-final run is rewarded#BackTheBrits | @WTA pic.twitter.com/yCs7Zwqn8v
— LTA (@the_LTA) April 22, 2024
Should she win her opening match, the world No 221 would face 17th seed Veronika Kudermetova in round two.
While that is a tough match on paper, Kudermetova has struggled in 2024 and faces huge rankings pressure with semi-final points to defend in Madrid and Rome.
Further ahead, Raducanu could face matches against eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko, or ninth seed Ons Jabeur.
Raducanu is scheduled to play her opening match this Wednesday.
