Emma Raducanu’s next WTA event confirmed and her long-term mentor will be by her side
Emma Raducanu has accepted another wildcard as she will look to return to winning ways at the Dubai Tennis Championships next week.
The world No 60 has suffered four defeats in a row as she lost her first-round match of the Singapore Tennis Open, in the opening rounds of the Abu Dhabi Open and the Qatar Open to go with her third-round exit from the Australian Open.
Her last victory was on 16 January when she defeated Amanda Anisimova in straight sets at the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
She is 2-4 so far in 2025 with her only other win coming against Ekaterina Alexandrova at the hard-court major.
Unlike in previous years where she opted to hit the practice courts after going through a bad patch, Raducanu has opted to remain in the Middle East and will compete in the WTA 1000 event in the United Arab Emirates.
It is also the third consecutive tournament where she will head into the main draw thanks to a wildcard and her tally now stands at 13 in her last 18 events.
Raducanu, though, will hope the draw gods will be kinder to her in Dubai as she was handed tough opponents at her previous two tournaments.
She faced 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in her opener in Abu Dhabi, losing in straight sets, while world No 26 Alexandrova also scored a two-set win in Doha.
But the Dubai field is once again a staked one as all the top players on the WTA Tour will be in action with Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina all in the main draw.
There is also a bit of good news for Raducanu on the coaching front as long-term mentor Jane O’Donoghue will once again accompany her at the WTA 1000 tournament.
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The 2021 US Open winner has been without a head coach since the Australian Open as Nick Cavaday stepped down due to health reasons and she only had her mother and fitness coach trainer Yutaka Nakamura with her in Singapore.
One of her youth coaches, Roman Kelecic, helped out in Abu Dhabi before O’Donoghue flew out to Doha, although the 22-year-old still went on to suffer a 6-3, 7-5 defeat to Alexandrova.
O’Donoghue, who worked with Raducanu at the Lawn Tennis Association as she was national coach for women between 2009 and 2019, has often stepped in over the past few years as she was part of her team at Wimbledon 2022, at the start of the 2024 season and Nottingham last year.
