Emma Raducanu is continuing her efforts to regain form by accepting a wildcard entry into the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The former US Open champion is enduring the toughest stretch of her career, having lost four consecutive matches. Her latest defeats came in the first rounds of tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, where she fell to Marketa Vondrousova and Ekaterina Alexandrova, respectively.
Prior to that, Raducanu was beaten by Cristina Bucsa in Singapore and suffered a heavy loss to Iga Swiatek after reaching the third round of the Australian Open for the first time. With all top 10 players set to compete in Dubai, she faces another challenging draw.
Raducanu will have the support of her mentor, Jane O’Donoghue, and fitness trainer, Yutaka Nakamura, following the departure of her coach, Nick Cavaday, due to health reasons. Instead of competing in qualifying, which began on Friday, she has opted to use her high profile to secure direct entry into the main draw, which starts on Sunday.
Last year’s Dubai champion, Jasmin Paolini, will be looking to defend her title after a breakthrough 2024 season. Meanwhile, in the Qatar Open, defending champion Iga Swiatek was knocked out in the semi-finals by Jelena Ostapenko, who dominated with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Ostapenko now leads their head-to-head record 5-0.
Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion and currently ranked 37th, was in control throughout the match, racing to a 4-0 lead in the second set before securing victory in just over an hour. She expressed confidence in her game plan against Swiatek and was pleased with how she managed her emotions during the tournament.
The Latvian player had previously criticized the crowd for jeering her during her quarter-final win over Ons Jabeur. After defeating Swiatek, she made a point of looking toward the spectators in celebration. Swiatek, ranked world No. 2, showed her frustration during the match, throwing her racket in the second set.
In the second semi-final, Amanda Anisimova powered past Ekaterina Alexandrova with a 6-3, 6-3 win, securing a spot in her second WTA 1000 final.
Elsewhere, British No. 1 Cameron Norrie was eliminated from the Delray Beach Open at the quarter-final stage after losing 7-6(3), 7-5 to third seed Alex Michelsen. The match was a closely contested battle, with the first set lasting nearly an hour before Michelsen took control in the tie-break.
The second set remained even, with Norrie leading 5-4 and holding three set points at 40-0. However, he was unable to convert, allowing Michelsen to break back and ultimately close out the match. It was redemption for the American, who had lost to Norrie earlier this month in the Dallas Open.
