A pensive Emma Raducanu ahead of her tennis match

Emma Raducanu has explained the reason behind her decision to withdraw from French Open qualifying as she insisted it is all about “laying foundations” and keeping fit for the remainder of the year.

After missing out on an automatic entry for Roland Garros, Raducanu was also overlooked for a wildcard for the clay-court Grand Slam.

She was then left with the choice of either entering the qualifying draw or hoping that there were enough withdrawals to bump her into the main draw as she was third on the alternate list through her special ranking of 103.

However, the 2021 US Open winner took a third option as she withdrew from qualifying and also removed herself from the alternate list.

In a statement she said: “It’s important for me to keep laying on the foundations and I will use the time to do a healthy block before the grass and subsequent hard-court seasons to give myself a chance to keep fit for the rest of the year.”

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Her latest move has raised a few eyebrows as she has played only 16 matches since making her return at the beginning of the year with her win-loss record 9–7.

Following an early exit from the Madrid Open when she was stunned by qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle, Raducanu revealed she was “mentally and emotionally I was exhausted” after playing in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, the Stuttgart Open and in Spain.

The 22-year-old hasn’t played competitively since that match against Carle on April 24 as she also skipped qualifying for the Italian Open and this week’s WTA 500 tournament in Strasbourg.

Opportunity Knocks

Raducanu will head into the grass-court swing a little undercooked and a big challenge awaits as she looks to build her way up from the No 212 in the WTA Rankings.

She missed the entire grass and hard-court campaigns last year as she was recovering from wrist and ankle surgery, but that is good news as far as Raducanu is concerned as it means she has no points to defend until early 2025.

She has been criticised for not playing enough, but her Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong feels her confidence comes from training.

“It’s a number of weeks between now and the first grass-court event. That’s a long training block and she’s already had eight months off on the sidelines,” she said on Sky Sports Tennis.

“She has said and proven she gets confidence from the hours she puts in on the practice court.”

What Is To Come?

The Rothesay Open in Nottingham is the first grass-court event on the WTA Tour calendar as it kicks off on June 10 and she will no doubt be offered a wildcard if her special ranking is not enough for a direct entry.

She could also opt to return earlier and drop to down a few tiers and compete at the Surbiton Trophy on the ITF Women’s Tour with the event getting underway on June 3. Raducanu last competed at a lower level in 2021 when she won WTA 125 Chicago just weeks before going on to win the US Open.

The WTA schedule is pretty straightforward after that as the Nottingham event is followed by the Birmingham Classic, Eastbourne International and Wimbledon.

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