Before each day’s play in Melbourne, we’ll preview three must-see matches.
Amanda Anisimova vs. Emma Raducanu
Call this the “I can’t believe they’re still so young” bowl. Raducanu and Anisimova are 22 and 23, respectively, but each has already had a career’s worth of highs, lows, injuries, burnout periods and comebacks. That’s what happens when you reach a major semifinal at 17, the way Anisimova did at Roland Garros in 2019, or win one—and then the final—when you’re 18, the way Raducanu did at the US Open in 2021.
Considering how much time these two have spent away from the game, maybe it’s not surprising that they’ve never played each other. In the last two years, Raducanu has had wrist, foot and ankle surgeries, and two weeks ago she had to pull out of Auckland with what she termed a “niggle” in her back. For her part, Anisimova took a six-month break from the tour in 2023, before returning last year and reaching her first WTA 1000 final, in Toronto.
Now, finally, the two are fit and ready at the same time. Keep your fingers crossed neither has to pull out before this match starts.
