Emma Raducanu could face daunting draw as she returns to action

Raducanu has been criticised in recent months for her lack of time on court, with her decision to opt out of playing in qualifying at the French Open backed up by a move to skip the qualifying rounds for the WTA 1000 event in Montreal. In the end, the 2021 US Open champion ended up playing just one warm-up event ahead of the US Open and predictably went out of the final Grand Slam of the year in the first round after a disappointing defeat against Sofia Kenin.

Raducanu suggested after the New York loss that she needed to re-evaluate her career, as she hinted she was not alone in making decisions over the tournaments she played. “I’m just going to go back to the drawing board and train and analyse where I went wrong and try and improve for the rest of the season,” she said in New York.

“Obviously, the Slams are over for this year, but it’s not actually that long until Australia comes around again. “I would have preferred to probably play a little bit more before coming into the US Open,” she said. “I know when I have a lot of matches, just like every player, you feel really good, you feel like everything’s automatic.

“I can learn from it. And, you know, manage my schedule slightly differently.
“It wasn’t just me. It was more of like a collective call and that’s what happened, and I can’t really change it.”
Raducanu later suggested she wanted to play more tournaments and planned to have a full schedule for the Asian swing of the WTA Tour before her ambitions were halted by a foot injury.

She subsequently withdrew from the China Open and Wuhan Open and was forced to pull out of the Ningbo Open and the Guangzhou Open the following week. It has been an untimely blow for the former US Open champion, who has Chinese family heritage and had hoped to play tournaments in the country for the first time as part of a busy end to the season.

Now she has confirmed she is hopeful of making a comeback in Hong Kong and the player currently ranked at No 54 in the live WTA Rankings could face a daunting draw in what looks set to be a high-quality draw. World No 9 Danielle Collins is set to be the top seed in Hong Kong, with Leylah Fernandez another possible first round opponent for Raducanu in what would be a re-match of their 2021 US Open final.

Fellow Brit Katie Boulter has also entered the Hong Kong tournament along with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. Raducanu could also face another contest against Lulu Sun, who beat her in the fourth round at Wimbledon in July. With no ranking points to defend for the rest of this year, Raducanu could break into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings with a couple of wins in Hong Kong.

She will also be hoping to get some matches in before she takes her place in the Great Britain team for next month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga.
It is not clear how much practice Raducanu has put in ahead of her return to action as she was seen wearing a protective boot on her damaged foot in London earlier this month, but the signs are clearly positive as she looks to finish her comeback season on a high.