That was a great contest – one of the best in the tournament – but felt too early. It was the same in 2019, when Victoria Azarenka was paired with Venus Williams to start the event.

”It’s a well-balanced draw,” said tournament director Nicolas Lamperin. “A good split between the top seeds and the top and bottom halves of the draw. There are good matches all round and we avoid some of the big names playing each other in the first round.”

If successful first up, Sun could face Pera (71) in the second round, before a potential rematch with Raducanu in the quarter-finals, after their epic encounter at Wimbledon this year, which launched the New Zealander’s profile into another trajectory.

Young Kiwi Vivian Yang, who won the domestic playoff to gain a wildcard into the event, got one of the toughest possible opponents in second seed Elise Mertens (No 34).

Yang, who is ranked No 1241 as she starts on the circuit, was going to be a massive underdog whoever she faced but the Belgian has great pedigree, with eight WTA titles and a run to the Australian Open semifinals (2018) on her resume.

Osaka is seeded to meet Mertens in the quarter-finals and also has Stephens and third seed Anisimova on her half of the draw. The four-time grand slam champion could be rusty – she hasn’t played a competitive match in three months – but will be hard to beat if she gets going.

”In week one everyone starts on the same page,” said Lamperin. “You are coming from the off-season and you need matches. Naomi hasn’t played since September but she is such a great competitor and she knows what it takes to win. Whoever she plays, I don’t think that is the main thing, it’s all about whether she is prepared and ready to compete and I have no doubt that she will be.”

Women’s singles draw

[1] M. Keys (USA) v L. Bronzetti (ITA)

Y. Starodubtseva (UKR) v J. Cristian (ROU)

S. Kenin (USA) v Xiy. Wang (CHN)

Qualifier v [5] C. Tauson (DEN)

[4] L. Sun (NZL) v R. Marino (CAN)

B Pera (USA) v Qualifier

J. Niemeier (GER) v Qualifier

R. Montgomery (USA) v [6] E. Raducanu (GBR)

[8] K. Volynets (USA) v E. Andreeva

A. Li (USA) v S. Stephens (USA)

G. Minnen (BEL) v Qualifier

A. Parks (USA) v [3] A. Anisimova (USA)

[7] N. Osaka (JPN) v Qualifier

Qualifier v J. Grabher (AUT)

H. Baptiste (USA) v [WC] R. Jamrichova (SVK)

[WC] V. Yang (NZL) v [2] E. Mertens (BEL)