Emma Raducanu signs up for inaugural WTA 250 event in Texas

WTA Tour

Shahida Jacobs
January 31, 2023

Emma Raducanu is set to kick off her 2023 North American hard-court swing at the inaugural ATX Open in Austin, Texas, at the end of February.

The British No 1 will be one of two former US Open champions in the 32-player field as 2017 Flushing Meadows champion Sloane Stephens is also on the entry list.

“We are thrilled that Emma, the youngest Grand Slam champion in the game today, will be coming to the ATX Open,” Christo Van Rensburg, DropShot Series Tournament Director, said.

“We look forward to her joining Danielle [Collins], Sloane and Peyton [Stearns] for our inaugural tournament, and are very excited to know that we will be welcoming them to Austin in less than one month.”

2021 US Open winner Raducanu has had another injury-disrupted start to the campaign as she injured her ankle at the season-opening ASB Classic in Auckland and was a major doubt for the Australian Open.

However, she was declared fit for the hard-court Grand Slam and won her opener against Tamara Korpatsch in straight sets before she went down in two sets against fellow young gun Coco Gauff in the second round although there were plenty of positives for her to take from the defeat.

After reaching a career-high of top 10 in early 2022, Raducanu has slumped to No 77 in the WTA Rankings, but she insisted after her Australian Open exit that she is confident that her fortunes will eventually turn around if she continues to put in the effort during training.

“I’ve had some niggles in the past few months, and I just need to get that sorted, train, and then we’ll see after that,” the 20-year-old said.

“But I’m actually just looking forward to putting in the work, and I feel, as I said before, I’m putting in a good system in place, and I’m really buying into and trusting the work that I’m doing with Sebastian and the rest of the team.

“I’m feeling good and confident that in six months time I know it’s not going to be, like, the finished product, but hopefully I would have made strides.”

Raducanu doesn’t have too many points to defend over the next two months as she lost her opening match at the Monterrey Open last year, lost in the third round in Indian Wells and the second round at the Miami Open.

The ATX Open will run from February 27-March 5 at Westwood Country Club in Austin after which players will move to California for the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open before the swing ends with the Miami Open in Florida.

Emma Raducanu