Hobart draw: Emma Raducanu gets double boost as she is promoted to No 1 and avoids big guns
Emma Raducanu will be the top seed at the Hobart International following Elise Mertens’ withdrawal and she has managed to land a cushy draw in the process.
World No 19 Mertens was set to be the No 1 seed as she was originally the highest-ranked player in the field, but she pulled out of the WTA 250 event as she is still in action in the United Cup with Belgium.
That meant world No 29 Raducanu earned a promotion and the draw gods have smiled down on her as she has avoided the big-name players in the draw, including tennis great Venus Williams and two-time Grand Slam winner Barbora Krejcikova, and defending champion McCartney Kessler.
The British No 1 will face Camila Osorio in the opening round, but the world No 76 from Colombia will be no pushover as she is a three-time WTA singles title winner with her most recent trophy coming at the Copa Colsanitas in April 2025.
Raducanu, by contrast, has won only one title and that, of course, was the big one at the US Open in 2021.
The pair have met before as they faced each other in the round of 16 in Washington in 2022 with Raducanu winning via two tie-breakers.
Should the 23-year-old get past Osorio, who has peaked at No 33 in the WTA Rankings, then she will face either Elsa Jacquemot from France or Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the second round while she is projected to meet fifth seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro from Spain in the quarter-finals.
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Third seed and world No 33 Iva Jovic – who has reached the semi-finals of this week’s ASB Classic in Auckland – is the second-highest ranked player in the top half and she opens her campaign against Janice Tjen.
The 18-year-old American is projected to meet eighth seed Magda Linette in the quarter-final and if the seedings hold it should be a Raducanu against Jovic semi-final.
Defending champion and world No 31 Kessler headlines the bottom half and she starts off against Olga Danilovic before a possible tasty match against former world No 2 Krejcikova. However, the Czech herself has a tough opener against Peyton Stearns.
Emiliana Arango is seeded seventh and likely on a collision course with Kessler.
The top section of the bottom half has some interesting match-ups as sixth seed Tatjana Maria has landed a plum draw as she faces former world No 1 Williams, who has been handed a wildcard.
The section has four qualifier/lucky loser spots with world No 37 Ann Li also featuring. The fourth-seeded American will face a lucky loser/qualifier in her opener and if she wins that she will face another qualifier/lucky loser.
Hobart International Projected Quarter-Final
Raducanu v Bouzas Maneiro
Jovic v Linette
Maria v Li
Arango v Kessler
