Emma Raducanu has been thrown a lifeline in the run-up to Sunday’s Australian Open start, with the Brit offered a spot in the Kooyong exhibition in Melbourne.
The 2021 US Open champion who now stands 301st after eight months of injury inactivity, will get a match at the former home of the Open.
Kooyong matches are often scheduled on an ad-hoc basis, depending on what players training for the Grand Slam wish to make the trip down trendy Toorak road to Kooyong Club for the event which starts on Wednesday.
Raducanu’s Thursday opponent has yet to be determined but is likely to be rising teenager Mirra Andreeva.
Also in the field is fellow Briton Andy Murray, along with ATP No. 4 Jannik Sinner, the world No. 4 who defeated 10-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic twice in November.
Also expected: Holger Rune, China’s Zhang Zizhen, American Frances Tiafoe and Australia’s Marc Polmans.
Sinner and Polmans are due to play on Wednesday, with Murray taking on former US Open winner Marin Cilic, only just back from months of injury. Rune will play Karen Khachanov.
Murray, 11th-ranked Casper Ruud and Canadian veteran Milos Raonic are joined by 2015 Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka and former US Open champion Dominic Thiem in a field boasting a cumulative 154 ATP titles, seven Grand Slam victories and two Olympic gold medals.
