Raducanu, Bouzkova take centre stage in AD Open

Grand Slam-winner Emma Raducanu will play her first match at this year’s Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open presented by Abu Dhabi Sports Council on Feb.5.

The 21-year-old British star, winner of the 2021 US Open, was paired with the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova in Saturday’s draw, while an exciting line-up of on-court action on Monday also includes Caroline Garcia versus Sorana Cirstea and Beatriz Haddad Maia against Xiyu Wang.

Four-time Grand Slam-winner Naomi Osaka, meanwhile, will take to the court on Feb.6 as she begins her Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open journey in both the singles and doubles competitions.

The Japanese former World Number. 1, who returned to action at the start of the year after giving birth last summer, will discover her singles opponent at the culmination of the qualifying rounds, where a victory would set up a mammoth clash against World Number.5 Elena Rybakina on Thursday.

In the doubles, meanwhile, the first-time partnership of Osaka and Ons Jabeur face Chinese duo Wang and Saisai Zheng in what promises to be an intriguing clash on Tuesday, which will also see the first appearance of talented Filipino star Alex Eala, who takes on Magda Linette.

World Number.6, Jabeur, will face the winner of Raducanu versus Bouzkova on Wednesday in a hugely anticipated clash as the Tunisian aims to make up for the disappointment of missing last year’s inaugural tournament through injury.

World Number. 9, Maria Sakkari, will also be in action on Wednesday, while 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcíkova is set to play on Thursday.

The qualifying rounds continue today, with Linda Noskova, Ashlyn Krueger and Diane Parry having already secured their spots in the main draw.

The WTA 500 event returns to the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City for its second edition, running from Feb.3-11, following a highly memorable inaugural tournament last year. A star-studded singles line-up includes eight of the world’s top 20, with the likes of Rybakina, Sakkari and Krejcikova all competing for the title, alongside wild card entrants Osaka and Raducanu, winner of the 2021 US Open.

Rybakina will be among the favourites for the title in Abu Dhabi. The 2022 Wimbledon champion began 2024 in fine style by winning the Brisbane International, thrashing world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

In all, half of the WTA Tour’s top 20 are competing at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, including Latvia’s Ostapenko, last year’s finalist Liudmila Samsonova, Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova, and Garcia of France.

While the singles competition will undoubtedly generate huge interest, all eyes will now be firmly fixed on the doubles event too given Jabeur, a fan favourite and Grand Slam finalist, will partner four-time Grand Slam-winner and former World Number. 1 Osaka for the very first time, a pairing which is guaranteed to thrill and excite those fans in attendance.