Raducanu, Sakkari, Watson: 5 players to watch at the Nottingham Open

There are plenty of big names at this year’s Nottingham Open. 

Despite the tournament being classified as a WTA 250 event, many of the world’s top players view the grass court competition as the perfect warm-up for Wimbledon. 

Indeed, previous winners of the event include the likes of Ashleigh Barty, Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta. 

Here are five players to keep an eye on at this year’s tournament:

The US Open champion accepted a late wildcard to play in Nottingham after being knocked out in the first round of the French Open. 

Raducanu is the highest ranked British woman in the world and will be seeded second for the event. 

All eyes will be on the 19-year-old, who has yet to push to on from her historic triumph at Flushing Meadows and is desperate for a deep run in a competition. 

The Brit will face Swiss player Viktorija Golubic in her opening match.

Sakkari is the number one seed for the tournament and is ranked third in the world overall.

The 26-year-old is an aggressive baseline hitter, who is one of the most consistent players on the tour. 

While the Greek star has won just one WTA event so far in her career, she will enter this tournament as the clear favourite. 

Tomljanovic knocked Raducanu out of Wimbledon last year en route to the quarter-finals at the All England Club. 

The 29-year-old is a more than accomplished grass court player and will be looking to build on last year’s success on the surface. 

First up for Tomljanovic is China’s Wang Xinyu –– a 20-year-old rising star, who is a former winner of Junior Wimbledon. 

Watson is another British representative and will relish the home support. 

The Brit has already beaten Katie Volynets in the first round and way well fancy her chances of winning a fifth