{"id":87561,"date":"2025-08-22T01:27:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T01:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/87561\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T01:27:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T01:27:07","slug":"us-open-draw-emma-raducanu-faces-tough-route-if-she-can-beat-qualifier-in-first-round-us-open-tennis-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/87561\/","title":{"rendered":"US Open draw: Emma Raducanu faces tough route if she can beat qualifier in first round | US Open Tennis 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emma Raducanu has avoided the top seeds in the first two rounds of the US Open but still faces a challenging path as she tries to convert her recent positive form into a first match win in New York since her shock triumph here four years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Raducanu, who is unseeded, will open her tournament against a qualifier. However, she could face the in-form 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova, a recent semi-finalist at the Cincinnati Open, in round two. A potential third-round opponent is a resurgent Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion<\/a> and another semi-finalist in Cincinnati last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last year marked a low point for Raducanu as she lost in the first round<\/a> after missing most of the US hard-court swing. This time, she is as match-tough as she has been over the past few years, establishing a consistently high level over the past few months and pushing Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, to a final-set tie-break in their three-hour \u00adtussle in Cincinnati<\/a>. Now ranked No 35, Raducanu missed out on being seeded in New York by just one spot.<\/p>\n

In his return to singles competition, after missing the entire US hardcourt swing, Raducanu\u2019s fellow British player Jack Draper will also face a qualifier or lucky loser in his opening-round match. Draper, seeded fifth, has not competed in singles since Wimbledon after being diagnosed with a left forearm injury. However, he looked healthy and well prepared during his semi-final run in the mixed doubles<\/a> alongside Jessica Pegula this week.<\/p>\n

One year on from his breakthrough run to the US Open semi-final<\/a>, Draper has been drawn in Jannik Sinner\u2019s quarter, but a quarter-final rematch with his old friend is a long way away with quality opponents such as Gabriel Diallo, Lorenzo Musetti and Flavio Cobolli in his section.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s field is headed by Sabalenka, who will open her defence against the world No 109, Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland. Rybakina, who she could meet in the quarter-finals, is the most dangerous player in her section before the semi-finals and Pegula, the fourth seed, is the second-highest seed in the top half.<\/p>\n

Jannik Sinner had to retire from the final in Cincinnati on Monday but was practising in New York on Thursday. Photograph: Sarah Stier\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff, the third seed, has been drawn in No 2-seeded Iga Swiatek\u2019s half of the draw as she tries to find her way again after a difficult period since her French Open win in June<\/a>. Swiatek is in fine form having won Wimbledon<\/a> and the Cincinnati Open<\/a> in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

The Pole will face Emiliana Arango of Colombia in the opening round. Venus Williams, meanwhile, has been drawn against the 11th seed Karolina Muchova in her 25th appearance at the US Open. Williams is the oldest entrant in the event in 44 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, the top two seeds, will attempt to consolidate their domination of men\u2019s tennis with a third consecutive grand slam final meeting and fifth consecutive final overall. Sinner will begin his defence against Vit Kopriva of the Czech Republic and, along with a potential quarter-final against Draper, the third seed Alexander Zverev is his projected semi-final opponent.<\/p>\n

Alcaraz, however, has been handed a challenging first-round opponent in the big-serving Reilly Opelka, a former No 17 who stands at 6ft 11in. While the fourth seed Taylor Fritz \u2013 last year\u2019s beaten finalist <\/a>\u2013 is Alcaraz\u2019s projected semi-final opponent by seeding, the seventh seed Novak Djokovic, who has been the best grand slam performer behind Sinner and Alcaraz this year with three consecutive semi-finals, looms in Fritz\u2019s quarter. The 38-year-old has not competed since Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

Plenty of tough first-round ties await the rest of the British contingent. Katie Boulter will face the 27th seed Marta Kostyuk, and Sonay Kartal will line up against Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 18th seed. Cameron Norrie will play the American shotmaker Sebastian Korda, while Jacob Fearnley has been drawn against the Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emma Raducanu has avoided the top seeds in the first two rounds of the US Open but still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":87562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-87561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}