Preview: Emma Raducanu vs. Camila Osorio - prediction, head-to-head, form for Hobart International match

The road to the Australian Open continues on Tuesday for British hopeful Emma Raducanu, who faces Camila Osorio in Tuesday's first-round match at the Hobart International.

The 2021 US Open champion enters the WTA 250 tournament as the top seed, while her Colombian foe used a wild card entry for the AO warm-up event.

Match preview

The New Year began in frustratingly familiar fashion for fans of Raducanu, who were gutted to see the British number one withdraw from her opening United Cup clash against Japan's Naomi Osaka following her troublesome foot injury.

Raducanu had been off the court since October, but after captain Tim Henman revealed that she was "very close" to making the cut against Japan, the 23-year-old was given the green light to battle Maria Sakkari when Great Britain clashed with Greece.

Raducanu could hardly have wished for a better foe to begin 2026 against - having beaten Sakkari in each of their first four head-to-heads on the WTA Tour - but the Briton lost that 100% streak in a three-set defeat to the 30-year-old.

After battling back from a set down, Raducanu ran out of steam in the third as she succumbed to a 3-6 6-3 1-6 defeat to Sakkari, confirming GB's group-stage elimination from the United Cup as she bemoaned a lack of ruthlessness.

The 23-year-old was not short of chances to break her more experienced foe, but she only converted three of the 11 opportunities that she fashioned; nevertheless, all match practice is good match practice before the first Slam of the season.

Also kicking off 2026 with a three-set loss, Colombian 24-year-old Osorio - a two-time medallist in the Youth Olympics - tested her mettle against Croatia's Petra Marcinko in the opening round of the ASB Classic in Auckland.

A narrow 4-6 first-set loss and eye-catching 6-0 second-set bagel set the tone for an unpredictable decider, in which both players broke each other three times before Marcinko stormed to victory in the tie-breaker.

Unable to take full advantage of the Croatian's eight double faults, Osorio conceded a whopping 21 break points to Marcinko, saving a remarkable 17 of them before fatally losing the first five points of the critical tie-breaker.

Now, the three-time WTA Tour champion kicks off another quest for a maiden hard-court title; all three of her tour-level crowns so far have come on clay at her home tournament - the Copa Colsanitas - and she earned just one main-draw match win across all four majors in 2025.

Ranked 82nd on the planet, Osorio bears the underdog label heading into her second meeting with Raducanu, but she boasts some notable scalps; Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Zheng Qinwen and Jelena Ostapenko have all fallen to her superiority down the years.

Head To Head

Citi Open (2022) - Last 16: Raducanu wins 7-6[5] 7-6[4]

Raducanu and Osorio will become re-acquainted three-and-a-half-years on from an absorbing maiden match at the 2022 Citi Open, which the Briton took nearly three hours to win in straight sets.

Osorio missed two set points on serve in the opener, before also letting a 5-3 lead slip in the tie-breaker, as Raducanu won four points on the spin to edge into a 1-0 match advantage.

The current world number 29 failed to serve the match out at 5-4, but her tie-breaker powers came to the fore again, as she prevailed 7-6[5] 7-6[4] before admitting that she "died about three times" in the sweltering conditions.

We say: Raducanu to win in two sets

Raducanu may have lost her perfect record against Sakkari, but there were encouraging signs after a prolonged absence, and the only way has to be up from here - at least for the time being.

Marcinko did not always capitalise on Osorio giving up a surfeit of break points in Auckland, but a front-footed Raducanu certainly can, so the Briton has our backing to march to a first win of 2026.