Emma Raducanu has learned her potential path to winning the WTA 500 tournament in Seoul as the British tennis player is set to start her campaign by taking on a player she recently defeated.
On Saturday, the Korea Open draw was released and the 21-year-old drew 49th-ranked Peyton Stearns. It will be the second meeting between the two as the 2021 US Open champion beat the American 7-6 (6) 6-2 just over a month ago on the hard courts of Washington.
Since the surface will be the same in Seoul, there is no reason not to think that Raducanu again enters the match as the favorite despite her early US Open exit.
If the former world No. 10 makes it past her opener at the Korea Open, next up for her would very likely be No. 8 seed Yuan Yue. In the quarterfinal, there could be a really attractive matchup if the 21-year-old and top-seeded Daria Kasatkina meet.
Should Raducanu reach the last-four stage, she could possibly battle against either No. 4 seed Diana Shnaider or fifth-seeded Marta Kostyuk for a place in the final.
In case the British tennis star makes her first final since the 2021 US Open, her likely opponents there would be either No. 2 seed Liudmila Samsonova or Beatriz Haddad Maia.
