Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu have a first-round bye at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing, and both could meet a qualifier in their opening matches at the China Open.
Osaka, who finished as runner-up in Montreal and reached the US Open semifinal, is seeded at a WTA 1000 tournament for the first time in years - she is the No. 12 seed. After a first-round bye, the Japanese is expected to have a favorable second-round matchup since she will meet a qualifier either way.
On the other side, 30th-seeded Raducanu will meet either 2024 Paris Olympics silver medalist Donna Vekic or a qualifier in the Beijing second round. While Vekic did some notable things last year, she has had a poor 2025 season as she is only 12-20, and has dropped to No. 69 in the world. With that being said, the British tennis player will be the favorite to win her second-round match whoever she faces.
ADVERTISEMENT
Osaka has had success in Beijing, Raducanu is playing for the first time
Osaka is set to make her fifth main draw appearance in Beijing. In the past, the Japanese tennis star made the semifinal in 2018 before winning the tournament the following year.
Meanwhile, 22-year-old Raducanu is only now set for her China Open debut.
For Raducanu, this will be her second tournament of the Asian swing - she competed in Seoul last week. Last week, the Briton noted that her goal was to play a lot in Asian so she could faster get in sync with her new coach Francisco Roig.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Even though it was the end of the season, I felt it was more important to work with an experienced coach ahead of the Asian swing. I wanted to prioritize working with him and further developing myself. Having the opportunity to develop with such an experienced coach was the main reason I decided to participate in the Asia Series, starting with this Korea Open," Raducanu explained.
