PICTURES: Emma Raducanu, Elena Rybakina, Leylah Fernandez & other WTA stars delightedly pose for fresh headshots at Wuhan Open

Emma Raducanu joined the likes of fellow WTA players Elena Rybakina, Wang Xinyu, Donna Vekic, Leylah Fernandez, and others to pose for headshots at the Wuhan Open. Raducanu will go up against American player Ann Li in the opening round of the WTA 1000 event after her brief China Open stint.

Raducanu faced Jessica Pegula in the second round at the China Open. Despite taking the first set, she blew three match points in the second set tie-break and succumbed to the World No. 7 in 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-0. While the British No. 1 is not among the top-seeded players, she will have a fair chance in Wuhan to be seeded for the Australian Open in 2026.

Before she opens her campaign against Ann Li, Emma Raducanu posed for headshots alongside Wang Xinyu, Donna Vekic, Leylah Fernandez, Elena Rybakina, Zhang Shuai, Katerina Siniakova, Sorana Cirstea, and others. Some of the players had custom tennis balls, while some brought out their playful natures.

Elena Rybakina, the Cincinnati Open semifinalist, may have a chance of facing top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, and Leylah Fernandez, the reigning Citi Open champion, will face Naomi Osaka in the first round.

Other players like Donna Vekic will compete against Belinda Bencic, Wang Xinyu against Moyuka Uchijima, in the initial rounds of women's singles.

Emma Raducanu exuded confidence in her form at the Wuhan Open after two defeats in Korea and China

Raducanu at the 2025 China Open - Day 8 - (Source: Getty)

Emma Raducanu was slated to face Barbora Krejcikova in the Korea Open but lost three match points in a last-16 tie with the latter. She faced the same fate in China, losing to Pegula, but believes that she's moving in the right direction in Wuhan.

Keeping a positive mindset despite tough losses, the 22-year-old said:

"I think it was hard for me. The last two matches that I lost, I had match points in both and it’s not something that’s really happened to me before and then to happen twice in a week was pretty new to get my head around..." (via press conference)

She added:

"I do feel like I’m improving and making progress. I still see the differences in where I want to go but I know I’m doing good work day-to-day to try and get there.

Emma Raducanu was the 2021 US Open champion, and her victory made her the first British woman to win a major since Virginia Wade in 1977.

About the author

Agnijeeta is a US Olympics journalist at Sportskeeda. She holds a Master’s degree in English and has worked as a school teacher, a blogger, a content writer and a sports writer over the past 5 years. A lover of high-adrenaline track and field events, she was also a sprinter during her school days.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone happens to be her favorite Olympian, and the athlete’s feat of breaking four records within 13 months inspires her, apart from the American's body language on and off the track. Grant Hackett swimming with a partially dysfunctional lung and winning gold in Athens is her all-time favorite Olympic moment.

Agnijeeta believes that deriving of unique angles from podcasts and interviews carried out by Olympics.com, along with hype-building of potential Olympic events on social media can help fill the coverage gap during the off season.

When not at her work desk, Agnijeeta likes to sing and paint. She also plays string instruments like guitar and ukulele and is an avid player of word puzzles.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua