When is Raducanu playing first match in Madrid as she ‘racks up confidence’?

Emma Raducanu will look to continue her encouraging start to her clay season at this week’s Madrid Open after being awarded a wildcard.

Raducanu won four clay matches in a row across the Billie Jean King Cup and Stuttgart Open.

The results saw Raducanu move 82 places up the WTA rankings and she will be aiming for more in Madrid.

Raducanu was originally scheduled to play her opening match against former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday, April 23.

However, after Pliskova withdrew from the tournament, Raducanu’s match was pushed back to Wednesday, April 24.

She will play in the third match on Arantxa Sanchez Stadium, likely starting around 2pm UK time.

Rather than a former world No. 1, Raducanu will open in Madrid against qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle, who is ranked at No. 82 in the world.

The winner of the match will play 17th seed Veronika Kudermetova.

Raducanu could then meet eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko in the third round.

British No. 1 Katie Boulter has a first-round bye and will open against either 19-year-old wildcard Robin Montgomery or Elina Avanesyan.

The winner could meet world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the last 32.

Harriet Dart has qualified for the main draw and opens against Cristina Bucsa in the first round.

Madrid was the last tournament Raducanu visited a year ago before undergoing surgery.

A year on she looks to be building confidence and playing some of her best tennis since winning the US Open in 2021.

“I feel good in terms of my tennis. I feel like I am playing really well, I have racked up confidence week by week,” she told Sky Sports.

“It’s a challenge coming here because it’s different conditions, it’s the first outdoor tournament I have played since Indian Wells. It’s not much time but I have had to adjust quickly and I feel pretty good here.

“This was the last place I came to last year before surgery and I pulled out on site. Then I had surgery and missed the rest of the year.

“From now I have zero to defend for the rest of the year so everything is a gain. Thinking how far I came since last year is a great thing. I feel a lot better, I’m in a lot better place with my tennis, mentally I feel really confident and I am just looking forward to the rest of the clay season.”

Raducanu is next set to play the Italian Open and then the French Open.