Preview:Emma Raducanu vs. Lin Zhu - prediction, form, head-to-head for Ningbo Open match

Still seeking consistency in the Asian swing, British number one Emma Raducanu squares up to Chinese wild card Lin Zhu in the first round of the Ningbo Open on Tuesday.

The 2021 US Open champion prematurely exited the Wuhan Open, where she retired from her first-round match against Ann Li, while her opponent also bowed out in the opening phase of the WTA 1000 tournament.

Match preview

Relentlessly pursuing a seeded spot for the 2026 Australian Open - notably withdrawing from Billie Jean King Cup duty in pursuit of her personal goals - Raducanu's end-of-year goals are yet to be truly fulfilled.

The British number one only has two victories to show from her efforts on the Asian swing so far, taking down Jaqueline Cristian in South Korea and Cristina Busca in Beijing, only to fall to the esteemed Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula in the respective second-round ties.

On both of those occasions, the 22-year-old was left to lament no fewer than three missed match points before being blown away in the second set, but recent Wuhan opponent Li would not need to produce her own terrific three-set comeback to best the Brit.

Indeed, the unforgiving conditions proved too much for Raducanu to overcome, as the dazed and discombobulated 22-year-old retired from that first-round match at 1-6 1-4 down, although she has since reassured her expectant fanbase that she is on the mend.

However, rather than call it quits for the season and recuperate for 2026, Raducanu plans to make her inaugural appearance at the WTA 500 Ningbo Open, where she will have to pit her wits against top seed Mirra Andreeva in the second round if she can take down Zhu.

No fewer than 190 places separate Tuesday's competitors in the WTA Tour rankings, as world number 29 Raducanu squares up to a foe outside the top 200 on the planet, and one of the four home wild cards for the event.

World number 219 Zhu at least has experience on her side heading into the first-round battle, but the 31-year-old has experienced quite the fall from her previous highs, having appropriately been ranked as high as 31st on the planet just a couple of years ago.

Fast-forward to October 2025, and Zhu has won just one of her last seven matches at the top level, defeating Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in the first round of the China Open before a comprehensive 2-6 2-6 loss to possible Ningbo opponent Andreeva.

More recently, the 31-year-old put in a valiant effort against Maya Joint in Wuhan but nevertheless succumbed to a 5-7 6[10]-7 defeat to the world number 35, which followed first-round exits at the US Open, Tennis in the Land and Cincinnati.

However, Zhu's three WTA Tour career singles finals - one of which she won, in Thailand in 2023 - have come on hard courts, offering the underdog a slice of optimism for Tuesday's high-profile showdown.

Head To Head

Raducanu and Zhu will be colliding at the top level for the first time in Tuesday's first-round match, which pits together two right-handers of a similar physical profile, as the Brit stands at 5'9 to Zhu's 5'8.

The serving statistics paint a bright picture for Raducanu, who has won 67.3% of her service games this year compared to Zhu's 60.6%, while also taking 6% more of her first-serve points.

However, while the 22-year-old is famed for her venomous second-serve returns, Zhu marginally trumps her on second-serve points won at 56.9%, although Raducanu has converted over 6% more of her break-point opportunities.

We say: Raducanu to win in two sets

Whether this first-round clash actually goes ahead as scheduled remains to be seen - rain and thunderstorms are forecast in Ningbo on Tuesday - but the temperatures should not be as sweltering as they were in Wuhan for Raducanu.

As a result, the revitalised Briton should make light work of a player with few top-level wins under her belt this season, thus earning herself a daunting second-round date with Andreeva.