Emma Raducanu faces a potential rematch with Coco Gauff in the third round of the Rome Open, with the American responsible for her fourth-round exit at the tournament last year.
The British No 1 has not played since Indian Wells in March after struggling to shake off a viral illness, and has yet to play a clay-court match this season.
Her stop-start beginning to 2026 was complicated by an injury to her right hand, which she cited as her reason for pulling out of last week’s Madrid Open.
But she is slated to take part in Rome. She will begin her campaign in the second round - after receiving a first-round bye - against either world No 72 Solana Sierra or a qualifier.
All of the WTA top 20 are taking part in the final WTA 1000 event before the French Open, where Gauff is the reigning champion. The American will face either Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva or Czech teenager Tereza Valentova in her opening match in Rome.
Should Raducanu replicate her strong run in Rome last year, her likeliest opponent in the quarter-finals would be world No 8 Mirra Andreeva, who has enjoyed a brilliant clay season so far, winning the Linz Open and finishing runner-up in Madrid.
World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka - who has been drawn in Raducanu’s half - willl play either 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, who is returning from injury, or Elsa Jacquemot. Defending champion Jasmine Paolini has been drawn in the same quarter as Gauff, Raducanu and Andreeva.
Four-time Roland-Garros champion Iga Swiatek has yet to reach her usual heights this season and faces a tough draw in Rome, with Emma Navarro potentially awaiting in the third round and Naomi Osaka in the fourth.
British No 3 Katie Boulter will open against Eva Lys; should she win that encounter, she will play Osaka in the second round.
In the men’s draw, British No 1 Cameron Norrie, who reached the Barcelona Open quarter-finals on clay, has a bye to the second round. Jack Draper is out for the remainder of the clay season as he continues to battle a series of injuries.
World No 1 Jannik Sinner is on a record run of five consecutive Masters 1000 titles and looking to make that six at his home Masters, while Novak Djokovic will be relieved he can only face the Italian in the final.
Sinner is aiming to replicate Djokovic’s achievement as the only man to complete the career Golden Masters - winning all nine titles at this level - with Rome the only one the 24-year-old has yet to claim.
Sinner is seeded to meet Jakub Mensik - one of the few players to beat him this year, in the Qatar Open quarter-finals - in the third round and rapidly rising Frenchman Arthur Fils, whom he defeated in the Madrid semi-finals, in the fourth.
Djokovic, who has been out of action since Indian Wells as he recovers from injury, will open against Marton Fucsovics or a qualifier.
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