Raducanu takes wild card into Portoroz

Emma Raducanu has received a wild card for the Zavarovalnica Sava Portoroz tournament starting Monday, Sep. 12, taking the number of Grand Slam champions in the field to three.

Raducanu, who won her first major at last year's US Open as a qualifier, joins reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and 2021 Roland Garros titlist Barbora Krejcikova at the WTA 250 event on the Slovenian coast.

The 19-year-old Briton's title defense in New York was ended in the first round by Alizé Cornet this year. After the loss, she spoke about embracing the challenge of climbing back up the rankings.

"It's a clean slate," Raducanu told the press. "I'm going to drop down the rankings. Climb my way back up."

Like Raducanu, Krejcikova and Rybakina will head to Portoroz in a bid to rediscover their major-winning form. Krejcikova was sidelined for three months due to an elbow injury this year; since returning at Roland Garros, the Czech's record is 7-10, and she fell in the second round of the US Open to Aleksandra Krunic. Since winning Wimbledon, Rybakina has gone 4-4, and exited the US Open in the first round to Clara Burel.

The Portoroz field will also feature three in-form players who have all won back-to-back tournaments within the past four months. Beatriz Haddad Maia broke through on grass, winning Nottingham and Birmingham, then backed that up with her first WTA 1000 final in Toronto to soar into the Top 20. Bernarda Pera dominated the post-Wimbledon clay swing, collecting trophies in Budapest and Hamburg. Liudmila Samsonova put together a 13-match winning streak on American hard courts, winning Washington and Cleveland before reaching the fourth round of the US Open.

Defending champion Jasmine Paolini, who captured her maiden Hologic WTA Tour title here last year, will also return; while other notable names in the field include Cornet, Clara Tauson and Marta Kostyuk. The home squad will be led by Strasbourg finalist Kaja Juvan and former Roland Garros semifinalist Tamara Zidansek.