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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Verri

Wimbledon 2025: Emma Raducanu to face Mimi Xu in first round as British women handed nightmare draws

Emma Raducanu will begin her Wimbledon campaign with an all-British clash against 17-year-old Mimi Xu.

Should Raducanu get through that, it will be an extremely tough second-round test, with either 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or McCartney Kessler, who won the Nottingham Open last week, waiting for the winner.

Whoever comes through that mini-section of the draw is likely to take on world number Aryna Sabalenka in the third round.

Sabalenka kicks off her bid for a first Wimbledon title against qualifier Carson Branstine. In the bottom half of the draw, Coco Gauff starts against Dayana Yastremska, while Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek could meet in a blockbuster fourth-round match.

Swiatek could go up against British opposition early in the first week, with Jodie Burrage a potential second-round opponent if the wildcard can beat Caty McNally.

It was not a kind draw for the British overall, with five of the 10 in the draw being paired with seeded opponents in the opening round.

British No2 Katie Boulter faces a difficult start, going up against ninth seed Paula Badosa.

Should she found a way to upset the Spaniard, Boulter could find herself taking on Donna Vekic, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, in round three.

Sonay Kartal, who has risen into the top 50 of the world rankings, faces the Jelena Ostapenko, who beat her in straight sets at Eastbourne a week ago.

Hannah Klugman, the 16-year-old British wildcard, will make her Wimbledon debut against Leylah Fernandez, while US Open junior champion Mika Stojsavljevic, also 16, will take on the 31st seed Ashlyn Krueger.

Heather Watson, given a wildcard as well, faces Danish 23rd seed Clara Tauson.

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