THE Australian Open is set to get underway this Sunday with British stars Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper hoping to shake off injury concerns to make some noise Down Under. Former US Open champion Raducanu, 22, had been due to get her season underway at the WTA 250 event in Auckland earlier this month.
![[Emma Raducanu serving at the Australian Open.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/emma-raducanu-great-britain-smiles-961784878_f2db72.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
The luckless star, however, was forced to pull out of the event for a second straight year, this time citing a back issue. She has since headed to Australia and has been on the practise courts at Melbourne Park. The world No.60 has drawn 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in round one of the Australian Open.
![[Jack Draper of Great Britain during a tennis practice session.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/jack-draper-great-britain-practice-962066714.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
If she can get past the Russian, Raducanu could face Amanda Anisimova in round two. And if the Brit can log two match wins, she would almost certainly face five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek in round three. Boffins and brainiacs over at Prime Casino have used their supercomputer to crunch the numbers and predict what will happen at the Australian Open.
![[Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray at a charity tennis event.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/epa11814324-novak-djokovic-serbia-coach-962569718.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Despite being ranked 34 places below Alexandrova, Raducanu is given a 61.1 per cent chance of taking her out to reach round two. The supercomputer then claims that there is a 34.4 per cent chance that she will also take out the winner of Anisimova and Maria Lourdes Carle to advance to round three.
![[Katie Boulter of Great Britain serves during a tennis practice session.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/katie-boulter-great-britain-serves-961784554.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS. This is where things would get really tricky, with Swiatek a formidable opponent - and the numbers give Raducanu just a 9.9 per cent chance of reaching the second week. In round four she would then likely face either Anna Kalinskaya or Victoria Azarenka - and has been given a 6.2 per cent chance to advance to the quarters.
