Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu will join three-time major finalist Ons Jabeur and Roland Garros semifinalist Beatriz Haddad Maia at the 2024 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, the tournament has announced.
Raducanu, 21, returned from an eight-month injury layoff in Auckland this week, reaching the second round before falling in three sets to eventual finalist Elina Svitolina. She has received a wild card for the main draw of the WTA 500 event, which starts on Feb. 5.
Wild-Card ✅
— Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (@MubadalaADOpen) January 8, 2024
British Superstar @EmmaRaducanu is our first Wild-Card in the electric field making their way to #AbuDhabi this February 🇦🇪#MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen #Mubadala #UAETennis #InAbuDhabi #AbuDhabiSC #EmmaRaducanu #WTA pic.twitter.com/IPRR554jeo
The Briton will join World No.6 Ons Jabeur and World No.11 Beatriz Haddad Maia in Abu Dhabi. Tunisia's Jabeur has lit up the Middle East swing over the past few years as the leading Arab player on the Hologic WTA Tour, and will make her second appearance in Abu Dhabi following her third-round run in 2021.
Haddad Maia, who became the first Brazilian woman to crack the Top 10 in June, was a semifinalist in Abu Dhabi last year, falling to eventual champion Belinda Bencic.
This will be the third edition of the tournament, which was inaugurated in 2021 and returned in 2023.