“Emma Raducanu gonna injure herself, then withdraw,” “They don’t want Naomi Osaka to get the ball rolling” – Fans react to Abu Dhabi Open 2024 draw

The Abu Dhabi Open 2024 main draw was unveiled recently with comeback stars Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu finding their places in the mix as wildcards. Both Osaka and Raducanu returned to on-court action in January 2024 after long breaks.

Osaka began the second leg of her career at the Brisbane International 2024 after having last played in September 2022. She earned a win in Brisbane but failed to go past Karolina Pliskova in the second round.

On the other hand, Raducanu made her comeback at the ASB Classic 2024. This was her first competitive appearance after an eight-month-long injury-ridden pause. Like Osaka, she too began her campaign on a positive note by winning the opener but lost to Elina Svitolina in the second round.

Both players then flew to Melbourne for the Australian Open 2024. Osaka crashed out of the tournament in the first round with a loss to Caroline Garcia, whereas Raducanu exited after going down against Wang Yafan in the second.

Their next challenge in all certainty would be making a deep run at the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi scheduled to begin on Monday, February 5. The tournament recently unveiled the singles draw revealing Osaka and Raducanu's potential paths.

Raducanu will take on Marie Bouzkova on Monday and Osaka is set to lock horns with a qualifier. However, Osaka comparatively has a tougher job on her hands as she would clash with World No. 5 Elena Rybakina in the second round given she makes it past the first. Rybakina has already received a bye in the first round as the top seed.

Tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) joked about Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu's situation given their current form.

"They don’t want Naomi to get the ball rolling," a fan wrote.

"Emma gonna win in 3 hours 30 minutes, injure herself, and then withdraw," stated another.

Here are a few more reactions:

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Naomi Osaka: "I kind of always expect myself to stand a chance"

Naomi Osaka

After failing to make any impact at the Australian Open 2024, Naomi Osaka put forth a realistic assessment of her chances during a press conference. She said:

"I have to tell myself, 'Hey, like six months ago you were pregnant', stuff like that. Of course, like, there's a voice in my head that is, 'Who are you to think you can come back and immediately start winning matches."

Osaka, however, added that her self-expectations always run high.

"I kind of always expect myself to stand a chance anyways. So I guess just being nicer to myself is like a key thing that I learned in my time away," Naomi Osaka added.