Emma Raducanu Hopes to Put Her French Open Early Exit Behind Her at Queen’s Championship

Emma Raducanu was almost in tears during her post-match press conference at the French Open. The British star had crashed out of the Grand Slam tournament without winning a set and hopes of returning to the top 30 were crushed to pieces. However, at the Queen’s Club Championships, she’s aiming to put that disappointment behind her.

Before arriving at the Roland Garros, there wasn’t much expectation on Raducanu as she had played just one match in two and a half months. The British star had suffered a viral illness at the Indian Wells Open, which resulted in her withdrawing from the Miami Open and other tournaments.

She finally returned to the court at the Strasbourg Open, but exited in the first round after losing to Diane Parry in three sets. At the French Open, she was the favorite to beat Solana Sierra in the first round, but she fell flat to the Argentine star losing 0-6, 6(4)-7. She left Paris without a clay-court match win, a three-step backwards to the progress she made on the surface last year.

Nonetheless, the 23-year-old is in London for the Queen’s Club Championships – the first grass-court tournament in the WTA circuit. As British No.1, Raducanu has been drawn to face a qualifier in her opening singles match, while competing in the doubles category alongside fellow compatriot Katie Boulter.

Raducanu is seeking to get as many matches as she can ahead of the Wimbledon Championship. The All England Club has proven to be Raducanu’s best Grand Slam tournament but she’s yet to reach the quarter-finals. Speaking to the press ahead of her Queen’s Championship opener, she reflected on her early exit from the French Open:

I found the next day pretty tough, and I knew the best thing for me to do was to try to get back on the court straight away just to nip it in the bud. I got practising pretty soon after. I took a long time away from competing, so I think from Strasbourg and the French Open it did teach me a few things that I can hopefully take into the grass season, but I haven’t had so many matches leading up to it, but I’ve been doing what I can day in, day out…

Raducanu reached the quarter-finals of the Queen’s Club Championships before losing to Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng in straight sets. She will aim to reach those heights at this year’s edition but that is hard to foresee. She was brilliant last year from March to September, reaching multiple quarter-finals on tour.

Emma Raducanu admits she’s working on her weaknesses on the court at the Queen’s Championship

Emma Raducanu recently reunited with her former coach Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided her to the US Open in 2021. She had revealed that the reason behind going back to the British coach was to rediscover some of the aggressive form that led to that historic triumph as a qualifier.

However, with two tournaments working with Richardson, she has yet to win a match. But that can change at the Queen’s Club Championships, where she has been training for a week with her coach. She admitted during the aforementioned press conference that she has begun to work on her weaknesses on the court:

I think a lot starts from the beginning of the point of serving and returning. I think that’s highlighted on the grass court, so working on the actual quality of the shot would be where I would start. That’s what I’m trying to focus on, and then it’s easier to implement that mindset if you start the point in a better way.

Raducanu remains the longest qualifying Grand Slam winner in the Open Era. The record was nearly achieved by Maja Chwalinska at the French Open as she reached the final, but couldn’t get past Mirra Andreeva, who delivered a fantastic performance to win her maiden major title on tour.

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