Emma Raducanu will face British teen at Wimbledon while Katie Boulter handed tough test

Raducanu takes on 17-year-old Mingge Xu but could face world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in round three

Emma Raducanu will face 17-year-old wild card Mingge Xu in an intriguing all-British first round match-up at Wimbledon.

British No 1 Raducanu, who narrowly missed out on a seeding, has been handed a difficult path to the second week.

The 22-year-old could face 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova or 32nd seed McCartney Kessler in the second round, with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka a potential opponent in round three.

Raducanu was knocked out of the Eastbourne Open in the second round on Wednesday and acknowledged, amid a tough year which has included a stalking ordeal, that she needs to get her “head in the game” ahead of The Championships.

“I feel quite tired,” she said. “Just going through some stuff and I need to do my best to get my head in the game ahead of next week. Realistically, the turnaround is pretty soon – it’s only four days away, really, that Wimbledon starts.

“I think I’m just going to start with [a day off] tomorrow and then hopefully I can get on the court on Friday.” Raducanu is due to practice on Court 1 with 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.

Elsewhere in the women’s singles draw, British No 2 Katie Boulter will face ninth seed Paula Badosa from Spain in a tough opening test.

British No 3 Sonay Kartal will face 20th seed and Grand Slam winner Jelena Ostapenko, with 16-year-old hotshot Hannah Klugman facing 29th seed Leylah Fernandez – who Raducanu beat in the 2021 US Open final.

Emma Raducanu will face British teen Mingge Xu in round one at Wimbledon (PA)

Other notable first round contests include second seed Coco Gauff, who won the French Open earlier this month, taking on highly-rated Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska and two-time champion Petra Kvitova – in her final Wimbledon – facing 10th seed Emma Navarro.

Sabalenka, who beat Raducanu at Indian Wells last year in their only previous match, takes on Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine in round one.

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova will face Alexandra Eala from the Philippines.

British first round matches – women’s singles:

Emma Raducanu vs Mingge Xu

Katie Boulter vs Paula Badosa (9)

Hannah Klugman vs Leylah Fernandez (29)

Harrie Dart vs Dalma Galfi

Sonay Kartal vs Jelena Ostapenko (20)

Jodie Burrage vs Caty McNally

Heather Watson vs Clara Tauson

Fran Jones vs Yuliia Starodubtseva

Mika Stojsavljevic vs Ashlyn Krueger (31)