Emma Raducanu has received a wild card into the Qatar Open and she will face Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina in the opening round next week.
The former US Open champion was beaten 6-4 6-1 in her last-16 match against Ons Jabeur at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and revealed on Wednesday she was hoping to play in Doha.
Kalinina beat Raducanu on clay courts in Madrid 2022 with the 32nd ranked Ukrainian winning a close content in three sets.
The winner of the match will take on eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko, who has already won two titles this season.
Raducanu returned to the tour at the beginning of January after her recovery from three operations last spring, on both wrists and one ankle.
She convincingly beat Marie Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi but her defeat to Jabeur left the 21-year-old disappointed about her performance.
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“It was a tough match,” said Raducanu. “Ons is a difficult opponent so credit to her, she played really well and it’s just a match that personally I need to forget about.”
The Qatar tournament, the first WTA 1000 event of the season – the highest level of the tour – sees both Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff playing for the first time since the Australian Open, but Melbourne champion Aryna Sabalenka is not in the field.
Sky Sports launches tennis channel
Sky Sports has confirmed a new home for tennis in the UK and Ireland, with Sky Sports Tennis to launch on Sky and NOW from February 11, making tennis content available every day for fans.
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Take a look at Sky Sports’ brilliant new tennis advert! Don’t forget, play starts on February 11th.
Sky Sports will broadcast more live tennis than anywhere else, bringing over 4,000 matches from more than 80 tournaments a year on the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as full US Open coverage.
Sky Sports Tennis will be available to Sky Sports customers with Complete, Action and Arena packages, with viewers able to access multiple live court streams at the same time via the Sky Sports mobile app, the Sky TV app or red button and on NOW Bonus Streams, giving access to more live matches.
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