Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka will play in a blockbuster first-time meeting at the Washington Open.
Raducanu is playing both singles and doubles at the Washington Open this week, where she is partnering Elena Rybakina in the latter.
After winning her first round match, Raducanu has moved closer towards a US Open goal that could be crucial.
Her next singles opponent will be Naomi Osaka, who bounced back from Wimbledon heartbreak in an impressive straight sets victory of her own.
Photo by Kate McShane/Getty Images for LTAEmma Raducanu gives her verdict on playing Naomi Osaka
Raducanu has already played 33 matches so far in 2025, and only needs four more this year to overtake her previous best.
When speaking to the WTA after her straight sets victory over seventh seed Marta Kostyuk, Raducanu explained what she has found difficult about this year.
“I find it difficult transitioning from clay to grass to hard and I would say this is the first proper year where I actually am doing that,” said Raducanu. “I am proud of how I am managing it, even when I don’t feel so comfortable because it is very lively here in comparison to the grass.
“The ball flies, it bounces so much higher than on the grass or it sits in a lot more comfortable heights for me. It’s something that hopefully with more matches and more time on the hard courts I will get better.”
Raducanu will now progress to the second round of the Washington Open once again, where she will play fellow Grand Slam champion Osaka.
This will be the first time that Raducanu and Osaka have ever played a match, with the former revealing what she is expecting from the upcoming battle.
“It will be a really difficult match,” continued Raducanu. “She has three more [Grand Slams] than me, so she has more experience on that front.
“But she is a really dangerous opponent, someone who has been playing extremely well this year and had great results. I am expecting a really difficult match and I know I need to play really well if I want to get through that.”
Naomi Osaka says what she thought about Emma Raducanu when she won the US Open
Osaka beat Yulia Putintseva in her opening match at the Washington Open this year, where she is making her first appearance since 2018.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has also spoken about how she is feeling ahead of the match against Raducanu.
Raducanu made her breakout when winning the US Open in 2021, with Osaka revealing that was when she knew the Brit was a ‘good player’.
“I’m excited about it,” said Osaka. “I’ve never played her before, so for me, that’s something really cool too. Because I’ve seen her, I guess when she first did well at Wimbledon before she won the US Open, moments like that, and I knew she was a good player.”
While they have never played a match before, Raducanu did hire Osaka’s former coach Yutaka Nakamura last year.
Raducanu and Osaka will go head-to-head for the first time at the Washington Open on Thursday, July 24.