Emma Raducanu has not received a wildcard for the upcoming Cincinnati Open, significantly affecting her preparation for the US Open. Fellow Brits Katie Boulter and Jack Draper are competing next week, but Cameron Norrie has withdrawn.
Raducanu is on his way back to the tournament in 2023 after an injury break, making it to the fourth round at Wimbledon and climbing back to number 69 in the WTA world rankings.
Earlier this month, the Brit made it to the quarterfinals of the Citi Open, where she lost to eventual champion Paula Badosa. But these promising signs were not enough to convince Cincinnati Open organizers to give Raducanu a wildcard into the main draw of a tournament that is considered key to preparing top players for the US Open – the final major of the season.
Caroline Wozniacki, Bianca Andreescu, Peyton Stearns and Caroline Dolehide all received wildcards for Cincinnati in place of Raducanu, who made history as a teenage qualifier in 2021 with her US Open victory.
The 21-year-old will arrive in Flushing Meadows at the end of the month without having taken part in either of the two major preparatory tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati. Raducanu’s lack of involvement in high-profile tournaments will at least allow her to go into the US Open without any fitness concerns.
“I think the most important lesson I’ve learned about recovering from an injury is not to rush back in,” she recently told Marie Claire magazine. “My impatience is probably one of my biggest mistakes because I basically rushed the recovery process and set myself back many months.”
“Instead of taking four months to get back to playing, it took eight months, and I didn’t hit balls for seven months when I should have been hitting balls in a month and a half. So I think it’s important to have people who are really tough on you when you’re coming back from injury.
“People who literally count every stroke they make and who really approach the whole thing scientifically, not just by feel, because sometimes the mind is stronger than the body and if you try harder, you actually set yourself back.”
Britain’s current women’s tennis number one, Boulter, will play Magda Linette in her first showdown in Cincinnati. Should she progress, she will face either Liudmila Samsonova or Wang Xiyu in the next round.
Draper has been given a favourable draw in the men’s singles, with a qualifier competing first, but he could then face Stefanos Tsitsipas if both win their upcoming matches.
