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Emma Raducanu Indian Wells 2021
Emma Raducanu, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments, WTA Tennis Players

WTA Transylvania Open draw: Emma Raducanu gets second chance to face idol Simona Halep


After Emma Raducanu missed the chance to take on her hero at Indian Wells, she could book the showdown at the Romanian WTA 250 event.

The US Open champion is the third seed at the inaugural Transylvania Open, her first indoor tournament at WTA tour level.

After losing in her first match at Indian Wells, the Brit will be looking to set her form back on track with wins in Romania.

Raducanu will first face world number 124 Polona Hercog of Slovenia for a chance to register a first win since New York.

Should she secure victory, the 18-year-old could face a home talent in Ana Bogdan, Next, she might take on her first seeded opponent in the quarter-finals.

That player would be Marta Kostyuk, a fellow rising talent on the WTA tour. Aged 19 and ranked 55th in the world, she is the tournament’s sixth seed.

The semi-finals is where Raducanu would have to reach in order to face Simona Halep, a woman the teenager has declared to be one of her tennis idols.

On the other hand, the tournament’s top seed has described just how much love there is for Raducanu in Romania. The star’s father, Ian, hails from the country, and as such the teen has been accepted as one of their own.

“The people here are proud of what she has done,” Halep said. “They have adopted her, let’s say.”

Should Raducanu progress to the final, Another Romanian seed could lie in wait in Irina-Camelia Begu, the seventh seed.  

The tournament second seed Anett Kontaveit is perhaps the most likely candidate for the other finalist slot though. The Estonian is on a strong run of results at the moment

She has accumulated a 21-3 win-loss record across her last six tournaments. Moreover, she has claimed three titles in two months. 

Most recently she won the WTA 500 Kremlin Cup held in Moscow, Russia. The other two were the WTA 500 Ostrava Open and the WTA 250 ‘Tennis in the Land’ Cleveland Open.

Projected draw for Emma Raducanu: 

First round: Polona Hercog (world number 124)

Second round: Ana Bogdan (world number 106)

Quarter-final: Marta Kostyuk (world number 55)

Semi-final: Simona Halep (world number 18)

Final: Anett Kontaveit (world number 14)


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