Raducanu granted wildcard

Emma Raducanu has decided to make her comeback at the ASB Classic, the tournament where she picked up one of the injuries that ruined her 2023 season.

Classic tournament director Nicolas Lamperin confirmed yesterday that wildcards will be given to Raducanu and Amanda Anisimova.

It had seemed as if the Classic was the tournament Britain’s Raducanu would least like to play again after her exit from it this year.

The 2021 US Open winner rolled her ankle in her second-round match against Viktoria Kuzmova on an indoor court that hadn’t been resurfaced at the same time as the waterlogged outdoor courts, and criticised the slippery nature of the surface.

However, she has agreed to come back to New Zealand, because of the wildcard offered to her.

Like Raducanu, Anisimova is on the comeback trail. The American took time out from the sport in May, citing burnout and concerns about her mental health, but now feels the time is right for her to return to the Tour.

The Classic will be Raducanu’s first tournament since April and there will be huge interest, particularly from the UK, in how she does.

It’s a coup for the Classic to add Raducanu to the lineup, which also includes current US Open champion Coco Gauff, former grand slam winner Caroline Wozniacki and Elina Svitolina, ranked 25th in the world.

Anisimova, 22, has been ranked as high as 21 in the world and reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2019.

But in August that year, her father died. He was also her coach and she suffered from a loss of form after that.

She had a terrible start to 2023, winning only one match following her first-round exit at the Australian Open and then decided she needed time away from tennis.

The full draw for the Classic was also announced yesterday, with the cut-off being Claire Liu from the US, who is ranked 99 in the world.

There are two Ukrainians in the draw, Svitolina and Lesia Tsurenko, who will be the No 2 and No 3 seeds, and also three from Russia.