Who is Emma Raducanu’s Madrid Open Round 1 opponent? Dutch star Suzan Lamens
Twelve months after a disappointing opening-round exit at the Madrid Open, Emma Raducanu will look for a strong response in the Spanish capital over the next fortnight.
Raducanu returned to form with a strong run at the Miami Open last month but has not played since then, with action in Madrid representing the start of her clay-court swing.
Awaiting the Brit in the opening round is Suzan Lamens, with the winner set to take on 24th seed Marta Kostyuk in round two.
Ahead of action at the WTA 1000 event, we take you through all there is to know about Raducanu’s opening opponent.
Career highlights
The highlight of Lamens’ career so far came in October 2024, when the Dutch star came through qualifying to win her first WTA title at the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka.
Lamens beat sixth seed Viktoriya Tomova in the opening round and would later beat seventh seed Diane Parry in the last four, before a 6-0, 6-4 triumph over fellow qualifier Kimberly Birrell in the final.
That triumph saw the Dutchwoman soar into the top 100 of the WTA Rankings for the first time, and she went on to reach a career high of world No 64 in March 2025.
2024 was a significant year for Lamens, having beaten Jelena Ostapenko in Billie Jean King Cup action for her first top-10 win, and claiming the WTA 125 title in Oeiras.
After falling in Grand Slam qualifying eight times, the 25-year-old’s new ranking saw her automatically enter the 2025 Australian Open draw to make her Grand Slam debut in January.
Lamens defeated qualifier Veronika Erjavec to pick up her first major main draw victory, before falling to former world No 4 Belinda Bencic in the second round.
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2025 form
Lamens has been in solid form so far in 2025, with a 15-10 win-loss record to her name heading into Madrid.
The Dutchwoman has been in solid form on clay in recent weeks, having started her clay season with singles wins over Katie Boulter and Tatjana Maria in Billie Jean King Cup qualifier action.
She backed up those victories by reaching the semi-final of the Rouen Open last week, defeating the likes of Bianca Andreescu and second seed Linda Noskova before falling to third seed Olga Danilovic.
Other notable results for Lamen this season include a successful qualifying campaign at the Dubai Tennis Championships and a run to the round of 16 at the Brisbane International.
Head-to-head
Unsurprisingly, considering Lamens’ comparatively recent rise towards the upper echelons of the game, this will be the first meeting between the two women.
The pair could have potentially met when Great Britain faced the Netherlands in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers earlier in April, though Raducanu ultimately withdrew from action.
Ranked 22 places above Lamens in the rankings, Raducanu will likely enter this match as the favourite for victory.
