Emma Raducanu Adds New Tournament To Her Schedule After Australian Open
News
Emma Raducanu will lead the field of players at a new tournament added to the WTA calendar in 2025.
The British player is looking to have a strong start to the season after completing almost a full season in 2024. However, her start of the season was derailed by an injury, which forced her to withdraw from the ASB Classic in Auckland.
As a result, Raducanu then flew back to Australia to begin her preparations for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season in Melbourne. With the Australian Open around the corner, the British player is already also planning her schedule after the Melbourne Slam.
Right after the Australian Open, there will be two tournaments held, mostly for the players who won't do well in Melbourne, as they start one day after the Australian Open final.
Running from January 27th until February 2nd, there will be a WTA 500 tournament held in Linz, Austria, called the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, or the Austria Open, and a newly added tournament, called the Singapore Tennis Open, or simply the Singapore Open.
It is a WTA 250 tournament that replaced the Thailand Open in Hua Hin, where Raducanu never played. WTA-level tennis was played in Singapore in the past, as the WTA Finals were held in the country between 2014 and 2018. There was also a Tour-level event held between 1986 and 1994.
In 2025, tennis will return to Singapore with the Singapore Open, and the list of players headlining the field will be very strong. Among the first players announced, two names of former Grand Slam champions stood out.
The Kallang Alive Sport Management (KASM), which runs the Singapore Sports Hub, revealed the initial list of players who will compete in Singapore, with Emma Raducanu and Sofia Kenin being among the players.
Raducanu was in Singapore before, when she trained at the Tanglin Club in 2022. Joining the two major winners will be Anna Kalinskaya, Elise Mertens, and Xinyu Wang, who will all play in Singapore as well.
Although Raducanu didn't provide any comments after her announcement, Kalinskaya did, saying that she is looking forward to competing at the venue in Singapore.
"I’m excited to play in the first year of the Singapore Tennis Open, and it will also be my first time in Singapore. I’ve heard amazing things about the energy of the fans and how multicultural the city is."
"I am looking forward to competing at the new Kallang Tennis Hub and hope that I will have a great tournament there."
Mertens is also looking forward to the tournament, especially since it will be the inaugural edition of the event, which is exciting for her.
"I have heard so much about Singapore and the fans there, so it is going to be a great first experience for me at the Singapore Tennis Open. It is always interesting to play in the opening edition of a tournament and I’m excited to be a part of it."
