By Emma Raducanu will not compete in qualifying for the French Open next week. The Briton has decided to withdraw from the event after missing out on a wildcard but it is thought to be a strategic choice rather than an injury problem. No official reason has yet been given by her management team for her removal from the entry list.
The 2021 US Open champion did not automatically qualify for a place in the clay-court Major in Paris due to her ranking. She is now 212th in the world having previously been as high as 10th.
As it stands she is third on the list of alternates, meaning she could still enter the main draw without needing to qualify if three other players pull out of Roland Garros.
Qualifying begins Monday (May 20) with the Slam itself getting underway in the French capital next Sunday. And the decision not to be involved is a hint that Raducanu will spend extra time preparing for Wimbledon, her home Grand Slam, which begins on July 1.
The 21-year-old has not played since April 24, when she lost in the first round of the Madrid Open. After a surprising 6-2, 6-2 loss to qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle, Raducanu confessed to being “mentally and emotionally exhausted”.
The Telegraph report that Raducanu has been training on indoor and outdoor hard courts, rather than on the red clay, at the National Tennis Centre in the last few days.
That would indicate her focus is on the English summer. Wimbledon’s grass courts will open next week and this decision may mean Raducanu plans to undergo an extensive training schedule for her home Slam.
She was prevented from playing on grass last year due to surgeries on her wrists and an ankle. Her time out saw her drop to world No. 303 and her ranking will not improve as a result of skipping Roland Garros.
After a month out, it is unclear which tournament Raducanu will make her return at. She could potentially play at the ITF event in Surbiton which begins June 2.
The first WTA-level grass-court events of 2024 are the Nottingham Open and the Libema Open in the Netherlands which both start on June 12.
The following week, June 19, is the Birmingham Classic as well as the higher-ranked German Open in Berlin. And the final week before Wimbledon sees the Eastbourne International and Bad Homburg Open both take place.
The world No.212 is 9-7 in wins and losses for this year so far. She showed promise with back-to-back Billie Jean King Cup qualifying wins over France duo Diane Parry and Caroline Garcia.
One-time Grand Slam winner Raducanu followed that up with victories over Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova in Stuttgart on clay before falling to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals despite a valiant effort.
