Emma Raducanu confirmed for WTA 250 event and her latest move gives big hint about her post-US Open schedule

Emma Raducanu’s tennis schedule has been a major talking point in recent weeks, but she has been confirmed for a WTA 250 tournament after the US Open and it gives a hint about her calendar for the remainder of the year. The 2021 US Open champion has signed up for the Hong Kong Tennis Open in October in what will be her debut appearance at the event.

Organisers have confirmed Raducanu as well as defending champion Leylah Fernandez and China’s Paris Olympics mixed doubles silver medallist Wang Xinyu will be in the main draw. The WTA 250 event runs from October 28 until November 3 and it strongly suggests that Raducanu will focus on the Asian hard-court swing after the US Open.

The Hong Kong Tennis Open is one of 10 Asian tournaments on the WTA Tour calendar after the final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows so Raducanu could well opt to play at a few more events. Beijing and Wuhan will host back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments, but as things stand Raducanu’s ranking of 71 is not good enough for a direct entry, but that could change with a good run at the US Open while she could also be handed wildcards.

There are also several WTA 250 events including the Thailand Open, Japan Open and Guangzhou Open where she could gain direct entry as the ranking cutoff are usually a lot lower. Since making her breakthrough in 2021, the British player has featured at only one Asian tournament and that was the 2022 Korea Open when she reached the semi-final. This year’s Korea Open will run from September 16 to 23.

She missed the latter half of the 2023 season as she was recovering from surgery, but by signing up for the Hong Kong event, Raducanu will hope her tennis schedule will return to normality following the recent confusion. On the back of some excellent results during the grass-court campaign, Raducanu opted to sit out the Paris Olympics in order to focus on the North American hard-court swing.

She kicked off her campaign with a run to the quarter-finals in Washington D.C., but was then overlooked for wildcards for the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open. She had the option of entering qualifying for the Cincinnati event, but her name was missing from the list of entrants. Her decision not to play qualifiers – including the French Open – has raised eyebrows with former Olympic champion Monica Puig saying it should not be frowned up.

“We never really have to shy away from qualifying,” the former WTA star told Tennis Channel. “It doesn’t mean you are less than by any means but getting those extra matches, which Emma I feel like needs at this point to get that momentum going into the US Open.”