Emma Raducanu pulled out of qualifying for the French Open and will now concentrate on the grass season ahead of Wimbledon; watch over 80 tournaments a year, including the US Open, exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Thursday 6 June 2024 19:50, UK
After a solid run of form for Emma Raducanu, when do we expect to see her in action next on the new Sky Sports Tennis channel?
The 2021 US Open champion has had broadly positive results since returning from an eight-month injury lay-off last year, after closing down her 2023 season following a first-round exit in Stuttgart in April.
Raducanu helped steer Great Britain to a spot in the Billie Jean King Cup finals as they beat home favourites France on clay, and carried on that form into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at Stuttgart.
She lost to world No 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals - a rematch from the same stage two years ago, and her best performance this year. She also beat former two-time Stuttgart champion and three-time Grand Slam winner Angelique Kerber in the opening round.
But her form took a dip at the Madrid Open when the 21-year-old exited the tournament after a disappointing first-round straight-sets defeat by world No 82 Maria Lourdes Carle.
Having missed the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Raducanu signed up to play a WTA 500 event on clay in Strasbourg.
However, she withdrew from the tournament, and the withdrew from French Open qualifying to focus on training for the grass and hard-court seasons.
Sky Sports' Anne Keothavong spoke of the benefits Raducanu would take in resting ahead of the grass-court season, while also pointing out the risk in waiting so long before playing again.
"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," Keothavong said.
"She has said and proven she gets confidence from the hours she puts in on the practice court.
"We talk a lot about head, heart and legs, and if your head and your heart aren't in it, your legs don't stand a chance.
"It was really disappointing to see. She said she was tired, but do you talk yourself into more tiredness?"
Raducanu will begin her preparations ahead of Wimbledon at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham from June 10-16 after accepting a wild card.
Raducanu has played in Nottingham twice before, losing to compatriot Harriet Dart prior to her Wimbledon breakthrough in 2021 and pulling out with injury after only seven games of her first-round match the following year.
The Rothesay Classic in Birmingham takes place from June 17-23, while her final chance of playing competitive tennis is at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne from June 24-29 before the start of The Championships at the All England Club.
Raducanu made her breakthrough at the Grand Slam where, barely two months out of school and without a Tour win to her name, the 18-year-old made the fourth round on debut in 2021.
Since her return to the WTA tour, Raducanu failed to win any back-to-back matches until reaching the third round of Indian Wells.
She had been due to face China's Wang Xiyu in the first round of the Miami Open after being awarded a wildcard for the event, but was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a lower back injury.
She was hampered by a stomach bug during her loss at the first major of the year, the Australian Open, but her tennis was encouraging and she stepped up her comeback with victory over Marie Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi before being denied a spot in the quarter-finals by Ons Jabeur.
In the run-up to Wimbledon you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the grass-court season.
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