Emma Raducanu Adds Grass-Court Event To Schedule After Accepting Wild Card

Emma Raducanu is set to have a busy schedule before the 2025 Wimbledon Championships after accepting a second wild card for a grass-court tournament.

The 2021 US Open champion was one of three players to receive a wild card for the 2025 Queen's Club Championships, which will be held from June 9th to 15th, the week after the 2025 French Open.

Naomi Osaka and Katie Boulter were the other women given wild cards for the upcoming tournament at the Queen's Club. There will be similar excitement for the 2025 Berlin Open, scheduled for the week after the Queen's Club Championships.

Raducanu has been officially handed a wild card for the WTA 500 event in Germany. Playing two grass-court tournaments in as many weeks gives her a chance to be sharp before Wimbledon starts on June 30th.

The 22-year-old can be formidable on grass at her best. She reached last year's Nottingham Open semifinal, narrowly losing to the eventual champion Boulter, and has twice been to the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Raducanu has often been questioned for not playing enough tournaments. For example, Andy Roddick could not understand why she took a few weeks off after progressing to a maiden WTA 1000 quarterfinal at the 2025 Miami Open.

The Briton cannot be accused of that if she plays at the Queen's Club Championships and the Berlin Open as planned. She clearly wants to give herself the best possible chance of having a deep run at Wimbledon.

Although Raducanu did take a few weeks off after the Miami Open, she decided to get more match practice before Roland Garros at the ongoing 2025 Strasbourg Open. After an impressive win against Daria Kasatkina, Raducanu lost in three sets to Danielle Collins.

Excitement levels for the Berlin Open are especially high because several other high-profile names are on the entry list. The German tournament usually has the best women's entry list on grass outside of Wimbledon.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is one of those on the entry list. Despite being a two-time Wimbledon semifinalist and an excellent player on all surfaces, the Belarusian has yet to win a tournament on grass.

Coco Gauff's presence on the entry list will also undoubtedly attract fans. The American became known worldwide after reaching the fourth round of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships as a 15-year-old, a run that included beating Venus Williams.

However, grass has been Gauff's least successful surface since then. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam where she has yet to reach the quarterfinals, and none of the fan favorite's 12 WTA finals have been on grass.

The presence of players like Sabalenka and Gauff could make it challenging for Raducanu to have a deep run in Berlin. Gauff easily defeated Raducanu during her run to the final at the 2025 Italian Open.

Having said that, Raducanu might fancy her chances of causing an upset against the top-ranked players more on grass than clay. The crowd support she will receive at the Queen's Club and Wimbledon could also help her.