Emma Raducanu’s first event of her North American hard-court schedule confirmed – and it could be good news for her ranking
Emma Raducanu looks on during a practice session
Emma Raducanu will return to Washington DC for the Mubadala Citi DC Open and, with most of the top players competing at the Paris Olympics at the same time, it could be good news for her bid to move back up the rankings ahead of the US Open.
Following her decision to skip the 2024 Olympics, Raducanu was always going to return to regular WTA action sooner than those competing on the clay at Roland Garros and she has been confirmed for the Washington DC event, which will run at the same time as the Paris Games.
The WTA 500 tournament – which starts on July 27 – is the first event on the North American hard-court schedule with several big tournaments to follow before players head to Flushing Meadows for the US Open.
It will be Raducanu’s second appearance at the DC event as she also featured in 2022 when she had a WTA Ranking of 10th and was seeded second. The Brit made the quarter-final before losing in straight sets against Luidmila Samsonova.
Following her decision to withdraw from French Open qualifying, Raducanu made it clear that her main goals are the grass and hard-court swings as she wants to improve her ranking.
“It’s important for me to keep laying on the foundations and I will use the time to do a healthy block before the grass and subsequent hard-court seasons to give myself a chance to keep fit for the rest of the year,” she said back in May.
And so far so good for Raducanu as she has enjoyed some excellent outings on the grass in England, reaching the semi-final in Nottingham and the quarter-final in Eastbourne.
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Rankings Boost
Having started the year outside the top 300 following her injury layoff, she is expected to move up to No 135 in the rankings come Monday.
The good news for Raducanu is that she doesn’t have any points to defend until the end of the year as she missed both the grass and hard-court swings last year as she was recovering from surgery.
A couple of wins at Wimbledon – where she received a wildcard into the main draw – could result in a further boost and make life a lot easier in terms of entry for other events.
A maximum of 500 points will be on offer at the Mubadala Citi DC Open while you get 60 points for reaching the second round, but that figure will be a lot bigger at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open as they are WTA 1000 events.
The cutoff for Grand Slams is usually around 100, but Raducanu will no doubt receive a wildcard for the US Open if she doesn’t qualify through her ranking as the hard-court major was the scene of her most famous moment back in 2021 when she won the tournament as a qualifier.