The Briton would subsequently exit the grass court major in the following round, but Raducanu put up a competitive fight against Aryna Sabalenka<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, there are big targets for Raducanu to achieve before the US Open<\/a>, and she has already signed up to play in two tournaments in Washington D.C.<\/p>\n This year will be Raducanu\u2019s<\/a> third appearance at the Washington Open, reaching the quarterfinals in both 2022 and 2024.<\/p>\n She will be in the singles draw of the WTA<\/a> 500 event as expected, playing seventh seed Marta Kostyuk in the first round.<\/p>\n However, what a lot of people were not expecting is to see Raducanu also in the doubles field.<\/p>\n Raducanu will be partnered by former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina<\/a>, with their first round match against fourth seeds another Brit, Olivia Nicholls, and her partner Tereza Mihalikova.<\/p>\n This will be the first time they have ever played doubles together, but they were actually supposed to before at the Cincinnati Open<\/a> in 2022, before withdrawing.<\/p>\n Nick Kyrgios, who has recently been training with Raducanu<\/a>, reacted to the exciting doubles team with just three words on social media.<\/p>\n He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), \u201d What a team!\u201d<\/p>\n Raducanu and Rybakina are not the only eye-catching pair in the WTA doubles draw, with the returning Venus Williams<\/a> also partnering compatriot Hailey Baptiste.<\/p>\n While in the men\u2019s doubles event, the aforementioned Kyrgios will be alongside Gael Monfils<\/a>, and Ben Shelton<\/a> will join forces with Frances Tiafoe<\/a>.<\/p>\n How many times has Emma Raducanu played doubles before?<\/p>\n Raducanu has not spent much time on a doubles court in her young career so far, having played just three matches on the WTA.<\/p>\n The most recent of those came at the Queen\u2019s Club Championships<\/a>, where Raducanu and Katie Boulter<\/a> reached the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n That winning feeling for Boulter-canu! \ud83d\ude04 <\/p>\n Brits Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu proved a top partnership in doubles at Queen’s \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\udfbe pic.twitter.com\/x8Fe3H316Q<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 9, 2025<\/a> <\/p>\n View Tweet<\/p>\n Raducanu revealed that she wanted to play with Boulter again<\/a>, but that reunion will have to wait a bit longer.<\/p>\n The only other partner Raducanu has played doubles with on the WTA Tour is Clara Tauson, which also came at the Washington Open in 2022.<\/p>\n This extra emphasis on doubles could be helpful for Raducanu<\/a>, particularly looking ahead to the US Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Emma](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2222941708-3-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Mike Hewitt\/Getty ImagesNick Kyrgios reacts after Emma Raducanu announced to play doubles in Washington Open<\/p>\n