Abu Dhabi [UAE], January 22 : Former No.1 Naomi Osaka has accepted a wild card into the Abu Dhabi Open, the WTA 500 tournament begins on February 3.
Osaka joined a strong field that already includes Ons Jabeur, Elena Rybakina, and Maria Sakkari.
"I'm very excited about competing in this year's Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open and performing in front of the UAE tennis fans, who I know from previous experience will create a fantastic atmosphere," Osaka said as quoted by WTA.
"It's a high-quality field with some of the world's best players taking part, and I'm looking forward to what I'm sure will be a fantastic event," he added.
Osaka has stated that she wants to play a more challenging schedule in 2024, and her attendance in Abu Dhabi is a definite indication of that goal. Since 2019 Dubai, the four-time major champion has not participated in a competition in February.
The second wild card entrant in Abu Dhabi is the 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu as the British player has also agreed to accept a wild card.
Currently, 10 of the Top 20 players on the Hologic WTA Tour are based in Abu Dhabi. The Middle East Swing, which will travel through Abu Dhabi before preparing for back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in Doha and Dubai, begins in February with the tournament.
Abu Dhabi entry list: Elena Rybakina, Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari, Barbora Krejcikova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko Liudmila Samsonova , Daria Kasatkina, Veronika Kudermetova, Caroline Garcia, Magda Linette, Sorana Cirstea, Anastasia Potapova, Anhelina Kalinina, Jasmine Paolini, Emma Navarro and Lesia Tsurenko .
Wild cards: Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu.
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