Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff are set to play the 1st round of ASB Classic 2024

are ready to play their first round matches in Auckland. The 2024 ASB Classic leads a jam-packed week of tennis to begin the new season. While the venue plays host to both tours, the women are up first and will compete from January 1 to 7. Coco Gauff returns to defend her title and leads the pack as the top seed. 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu is ready to make her comeback, after missing out on most of the 2023 season. Coco Gauff will play against her Native American Claire Lu in the first round, and Emma Raducanu will play against a qualifier. Just a little over three months on from her maiden Grand Slam title, it's fair to say Coco Gauff is pretty happy with the way her tennis career is going. The win at the US Open capped off a season that started with a win at the 2023 ASB Classic, so the 19-year-old returns as the defending champion and main drawcard. It's a fair assumption right now that Gauff is the leading light in the resurgence of American tennis, but that's not a label she likes to wear. Emma Raducanu will make her competitive return to tennis at the Auckland Classic, one year on from exiting the same tournament in tears, after rolling her ankle during a second-round match. Raducanu believes she's a better tennis player than she was before her enforced injury break, which ruled her out of most of 2023. The former US Open champion will face a qualifier, in her first match back on court, before then playing the winner of Caroline Wozniacki's match, with second seed Alina Spitalina in the second round.