Having retired from the Qatar Open due to illness, Emma Raducanu returns to action this week with the Dubai Open Championships and her first opponent has been named.
The Briton is competing in the WTA 1000 tournament for the second time in her career having reached the second round last year.
Who is Emma Raducanu’s Dubai Open Championships opponent?
In the Round of 64, Raducanu has been drawn against Elisabetta Cocciaretto who beat Anastasia Zakharova and Donna Vekic in the qualifiers to make it to the tournament proper.
Cocciaretto is a 25-year-old player from Italy and is currently ranked at No.56 in the world, 31 places lower than Raducanu.
In her career to date, she has achieved a best ranking of No.29 in August 2023 and has won two titles, the 2023 Ladies Open Lausanne and the 2026 Hobart International.
She recently made headlines after she beat Coco Gauff in Doha, having entered the main draw as a lucky loser.
Cocciaretto pulled off the upset in the second round, beating Gauff 6-4, 6-2 and credited the Winter Olympics taking place in her home country of Italy as an inspiration.
“I think this week it’s a bit different for us in Italy,” she said. “Now I’m more focused on the Winter Olympics than for the tournament.
“Maybe cheering for the Italian athletes is the key, that’s why I’m playing better maybe!”
In the Grand Slams, she has reached the fourth round of the French Open, the third round of Wimbledon and the second round in both Australia and the United States.
Like Raducanu, this is Cocciaretto’s second appearance in Dubai and she reached the second round last year, losing to Gauff.
What is Emma Raducanu and Elisabetta Cocciaretto’s head-to-head record?
These two have actually never played each other before so it will be another new opponent for Raducanu’s record.
To date, Raducanu has faced 132 different players on the ITF and WTA Tours since she turned pro in 2018.
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The post Who is Emma Raducanu’s first-round opponent in Dubai? appeared first on Tennis365.
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