Emma Raducanu Slams French Open Organizers for Giving ‘Preferential Treatment’ to Certain Players Ahead of Iga Swiatek Clash

Emma Raducanu never clinched a win in the four matches she has played against the French Open defending champion Iga Swiatek.

Emma Raducanu Slams French Open Organizers for Giving ‘Preferential Treatment’ to Certain Players Ahead of Iga Swiatek Clash

Iga Swiatek, Emma Raducanu (Image via X/The Tennis Letter, We Are Tennis)

Emma Raducanu has reached the second round of the 2025 French Open, registering a win in the tournament for the first time since 2022. She knocked out Chinese ace Wang Xinyu, only to set up a second-round clash with defending champion Iga Swiatek, who went past Rebecca Sramkova to extend her winning streak in the clay-court Major to 22 matches as she faced a defeat in 2021.

Raducanu has now become the first British singles player to clinch a win in the tournament since 2023. Following her match, Raducanu, at the press conference, expressed her disappointment over not getting enough practice time on big courts.

I honestly think it’s really difficult because the tournament don’t really help in terms of getting you court time on the bigger courts or on like the match courts, really. I feel like, I don’t know, certain players get preferred treatment.

The match against Swiatek is scheduled to start on May 28th but the court is not yet decided. It could be held in either Court Philippe-Chatrier or Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

These two are the main courts of Roland Garros and the British ace has played on Suzanne-Lenglen once, but never on Chatrier. So far in her career, she has only played two matches in the tournament, both on her debut in 2022.

The 2021 US Open champion has lost all four matches she has played against the five-time Grand Slam champion, including in this year’s Australian Open third round. Raducanu, who still hasn’t yet lifted a singles title since the 2021 US Open, produced her best performance since that victory at the Miami Open where she reached the quarterfinals and lost to eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula.

Swiatek, on the other hand, has not yet advanced to a final since winning her fourth Roland Garros title last year. She was expected to end her trophy drought on clay, but she lost the Stuttgart Open quarterfinal, Madrid Open semifinal, and the Italian Open third round. In Madrid and Rome, she was the defending champion.

Iga Swiatek shares an interesting anecdote about Rafael Nadal

Iga Swiatek, following her 6-3, 6-3 win over Rebecca Sramkova was asked about Rafael Nadal‘s retirement ceremony held on May 25th. She sat in the front row of Chatrier and later also took to social media to share a few pictures from the ceremony.

Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek (2)
Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek (Image via Tennis X/The Tennis Letter)

During the press conference after her match, Swiatek said that she didn’t really cry but was very emotional. She thinks it would be strange not to see him playing in the tournament where he ruled for nearly two decades. While talking about the King of Clay, Swiatek recalled the time when Nadal was defeated in the 2021 French Open semifinal by eventual winner and his longtime rival Novak Djokovic.

In 2021, when he lost to Novak in the semifinals and we all stayed in the same hotel, I remember being devastated that he lost that day until I ran into him the next day, sitting, having breakfast. I went to him and asked, ‘How do you feel?’. I saw him calm; he replied, ‘It’s just a tennis match; I’ll have many more opportunities’. At that moment, I thought, ‘What? Why am I crying if he’s not crying?’

Nadal later took his revenge on the Serb by beating him in the 2022 French Open quarterfinal before defeating Casper Ruud to win his 14th Roland Garros as well as his career’s last Grand Slam title. It was at the French Open last year when Nadal played his last Grand Slam tournament. Eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev eliminated him in the first round.

Also read: Carlos Alcaraz Moved by the Emotional Roland Garros Tribute to ‘Idol’ Rafael Nadal