Sports
BRITAIN’S Emma Raducanu has been given a wildcard to play at the Miami Open next month.
The 21-year-old has not played since losing to Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in Doha on 12 February.
Raducanu is ranked 252nd in the world as she continues her comeback from an eight-month injury lay-off.
Former major champions Venus Williams, 43, and Caroline Wozniacki, 33, have also been given wildcards for the hard-court tournament in Miami.
The event, which is one of the biggest outside of the four Grand Slam tournaments, starts on 17 March.
It is is still unclear if Raducanu will play before then at the Indian Wells event in California, which precedes Miami as part of the ‘Sunshine Double’ and begins on 6 March.
On Thursday, she posted an Instagram story appearing to show that she was arriving in Los Angeles.
Raducanu, who shot to prominence with a stunning triumph at the 2021 US Open as a teenage qualifier, is ranked too low for direct entry into the top WTA tournaments.
A protected injury ranking of 103rd helped the former British number one enter last month’s Australian Open without needing to go through qualifying.
But the rule – which allows players to freeze their ranking if they are out for six months or more – has not enabled Raducanu to move directly into the Indian Wells or Miami main draws.
Eight wildcards are available for Indian Wells, which has already awarded two to American seven-time major champion Williams and Danish former world number one Wozniacki.
If Raducanu does not receive a wildcard in Indian Wells, she could play in qualifying.
Raducanu missed most of the 2023 season after operations on both of her wrists, as well as ankle surgery, before returning to tour in January.
She has won three of the seven matches of her comeback so far and, instead of taking a wildcard for Dubai after losing to Kalinina, returned to the UK for a training block at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre.
BBC
1st February, 2024.
C.E.
Tags: Emma Raducanu
