Emma Raducanu has been handed a potential second-round clash with Coco Gauff as she prepares to return to action in Indian Wells.
The BNP Paribas Open, which begins on Wednesday, will be the 22-year-old’s first tournament since her ordeal with a “fixated” man in Dubai last month.
Raducanu was left cowering in tears on court during her second-round match against Karolina Muchova after spotting the man in the crowd.
The former US Open champion opted not to press charges after the man was detained but he has been banned from future tournaments.
Raducanu’s first challenge in California will be to get past Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, who is ranked three places above her at 52 in the world.
The winner of that contest is guaranteed to face third seed Coco Gauff, with the top 32 players all receiving byes through to the second round.
Raducanu and Gauff have met once before, with the American winning a tight contest in the second round of the Australian Open two years ago.
Gauff began the season as arguably the most in-form player on the WTA Tour but goes into Indian Wells on a three-match losing streak after being knocked out of the Australian Open in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa and then losing her opening matches in Doha and Dubai.
Raducanu, meanwhile, ended a four-match losing run, the longest of her career, by beating Maria Sakkari in the opening round in Dubai.
Raducanu’s search for a new full-time coach goes on and she will be supported in Indian Wells by her fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura and Tom Welsh, who works at the Lawn Tennis Association’s National Academy in Loughborough.
Indian Wells is one of the biggest events outside the grand slams and will see all of Britain’s leading players in action.
Jack Draper and Katie Boulter are both seeded and have first-round byes, while debutant Jacob Fearnley will face his old junior rival Draper if he can get past Brazilian teen star Joao Fonseca.
Former champion Cameron Norrie takes on Italy’s Luca Nardi.
