Great Britain's Emma Raducanu on day two of the women's ASB Classic in Auckland. Photo: Photosport
Former US Open winner Emma Raducanu has been given a wildcard to return to ASB Classic in January despite criticising the tournament.
Raducanu retired injured in Auckland this year and blamed the use of indoor courts when rain forced the tournament inside.
The 21-year-old will re-start her career at the ASB Classic, after multiple injuries forced her to take a break from the game.
She has a protected ranking of 103 because of her lengthy absence from the tour but has missed out on the initial batch of wildcard entries for the Australian Open.
The Briton is one of three wildcards locked in for the Classic with Caroline Wozniacki returning to Auckland for an eighth time and young American Amanda Anisimova coming back to the tour after a taking an indefinite break in May to deal with her mental health.
Anisimova is a prodigious talent who quickly rose to number 21 in the world as a teenager. The American has faced challenges with the death of her father who was her coach and she took much of this year off.
After a spell at university, she returns to the Classic where she reached the semi-final against Serena Williams in 2020 and the quarterfinals in 2019.
Anisimova is a two-time champion on the WTA Tour, winning titles in Bogota in 2019 and Melbourne in 2022. She also reached the semi-finals at the French Open in 2019.
Tournament director Nicolas Lamperin saw the ASB Classic playing a part in Raducanu and Anisimova's revival.
"Both of these players had remarkable success as teenagers and have both faced challenges since. They both have prodigious talent and both have returned still with a passion for the game and keen to re-find their way," Lamperin said.
"If we can help that progress with a wildcard entry for the ASB Classic, then it is the least we can do to play our part in the bigger picture of the welfare of our sport."
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The field in Auckland is headed by world number 3 Coco Gauff, who last year in Auckland won the minds with her performances on the court and hearts with her humanity off it. Still just 19 years, Gauff will defend her ASB Classic title when the women's competition begins on 1 January at the ASB Arena.
Gauff went on from her Auckland success to push to her first Grand Slam title, fittingly on home turf at the US Open, with some remarkable displays.
The mums are out in force at the ASB Classic, alongside Wozniacki is Ukrainian Elina Svitolina who is choosing to compete in Auckland in her build-up for a return to the Australian Open, having taken more than a year out of the game with the birth of her daughter.
Svitolina, who had a career high no 3 in the world, has climbed more than 1000 spots to a world ranking of 25 in the few months she has been back in the game. The 2018 World Finals winner this year made the quarterfinals at Roland Garros and semifinals at Wimbledon.
There is significant depth in the women's line-up which boasts 78 WTA career victories and includes both rising stars and proven performers.
That includes four-time winner Lesia Tsurenko from Ukraine, a long-time Fed Cup representative who will be the third seed ahead of American Emma Narvarro, a former Collegiate standout, who has jumped to 32 in the world rankings after two semi-finals and two quarters in a moving year.
Talented Chinese pair Xinyu Wang (right-hander) and Xiyu Wang (left-hander), who are not related, and ranked 36 and 72 in the world respectively.
Photo: Photosport / Chris Symes
"When I build a draw I always try to get a combination of up and coming established players but also players who have been on the tour for many years who have had significant success. I think what is unique about the ASB Classic is the fact that we are week one all the players come off their off-season training blocks we're two weeks ahead of the Australian Open and they need matches at this time of the year so the Classic is clearly very good preparation.
"Tennis in unpredictable and people need to understand that the level is really high and really competitive so someone who is ranked 70 in the world can easily beat someone in the top 10 so it doesn't mean if you're not seeded you're not going to go far in the tournament. One of the good examples is [Rebeka] Masarova who reached the final from qualifying this year and she continued on that form and she's improved her ranking over the last few months.
"Week one is a very special week because no one has played before you never know what kind of form you'll have when you start playing the tournament so there could be some upsets and exciting matches to watch."
The full field is (Seeding, World Ranking):
1. Coco Gauff (USA) World No 3, 2. Elina Svitolina (UKR) No 25, 3. Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) No 31, 4. Emma Navarro (USA) No 32, 5. Marie Bouzkova (CZE) No 34, 6. Xinyu Wang (CHN) No 36, 7. Petra Martic (CRO) No 40, 8. Varvara Gracheva (FRA) No 43, 9. Anna Blinkova No 50, 10. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova No 57, 11. Magdalena Frech (POL) No 63, No 12. Rebecca Masarova (ESP) No 64, 13. Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) No 68, 14. Xiyu Wang (CHN) 71; 15. Elina Avanesyan No 74, 16. Yue Yuan (CHN) No 77, 17. Emina Bektas (USA) No 87, 18 Kayla Kay (USA) No 89, 19 Jaqueline Cristian (ROU) 91, 20. Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE) No 93, 21. Diane Parry (FRA) 94, 22. Claire Liu (USA) 99.
Wildcards: Emma Raducanu (GBR), Amanda Anisimova (USA), Caroline Wozniacki (DEN).