Staff Reporter.
Emma Raducanu has been awarded a Wimbledon main draw wild card along with Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber.
Raducanu – who is currently ranked world No 165 – will return to the All England Club, where she made her breakthrough by reaching the fourth round in 2021, for the first time in two years following wrist and ankle surgery last year.
The former US Open champion reached the semi-finals of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham last week in an encouraging start to her grass-court campaign.
Raducanu’s final chance of playing competitive tennis is at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne from June 24-29 before the start of Wimbledon.
While Raducanu will compete at Wimbledon, she has declined an invitation to be part of Team GB at this summer’s Olympics in Paris
Wildcards are given by the All England Club to players who are not ranked high enough to qualify directly into the main draw.
British players Heather Watson, Fran Jones and Lily Miyazaki have also been awarded wildcards to the women’s singles. All seven of the initial wildcards for the men’s singles have been given to British players.
Liam Broady, who has reached the third round in each of the past two years, heads the list.
Last year’s boys’ champion Henry Searle and Billy Harris, who earned the biggest win of his career at Queen’s on Tuesday, have been invited.
Jan Choinski, Jacob Fearnley, Arthur Fery and Paul Jubb will also play.
Wimbledon announced the wildcards on Wednesday. The Grand Slam tournament starts on 1 July.