(Video) Emma Raducanu Fights Tears in the Press Conference After Roland Garros Early Exit

Emma Raducanu crashed out of the French Open in the opening round to Solana Sierra, a defeat that epitomizes her struggling form on the court this season. With no fight or passion in her game, she failed to give herself a chance to win a clay-court match this year and had to hold back tears during her press conference.

The 22-year-old’s 2026 season has been decimated by a viral illness, but heading into the French Open, there was little expectation that she could turn things around. She had rehired Andrew Richardson, the British coach who helped her win the 2021 US Open in New York, ahead of the Roland Garros.

But twenty minutes into her match against Sierra, she was already trailing 0-4 and had failed to hit a clean good shot that could put the Argentine star under pressure. In the fifth game, she hit a backhand shot badly that flew high into the sky before bouncing far out leaving the crowd in utter dismay.

After suffering a bagel in the first set, she still allowed Sierra to break her early in the second set. Things only got better at 1-4, when she won two consecutive points to earn her first break, which made her raise her fist close to her face. But that was already too late for the World No.39 as Sierra went on to wrap up the win in the tie break.

Raducanu lost the match 0-6, 6(4)-7 at Roland Garros, making sure she ends the clay-court swing without a win. In her media interview, she was asked about the difficulty of navigating a career that has so many physical setbacks and a poor run of form that almost drew tears from Raducanu’s eyes as she answered:

It’s very difficult. I think you need a lot of resilience. I’m trying my best each day, and I think that’s all I can ask of myself… I can’t really explain it right now. I don’t really – haven’t processed it fully. It was really difficult. I went on the court. I felt like the conditions were extremely lively and I wasn’t able to trust my shots in that and didn’t feel I had control over the ball.

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For a player who won a major title five years ago, winning just one Grand Slam match five months into the season, is a big failure, despite the ups and downs in her physical level and form. She has worked with her two coaches this season, having parted ways with Francisco Roig in January and then rehired Richardson, yet things don’t seem to be improving for the British star on the court.

Emma Raducanu admits she needs to improve in her game ahead of the grass-court season

Expectations for Emma Raducanu were already low before the French Open due to her poor preparation. Her first round loss at the Strasbourg Open a few days earlier marked her first match on tour in more than two months due to a viral illness. She had hoped to return to the court at the Italian Open but 30 minutes after her press conference she withdrew from the event.

Now, she needs to spend more time on the practice court honing her game and getting her confidence back. The 22-year-old needs a new strategy heading into the grass-court season if she has any hopes of redeeming herself. She admitted during the aforementioned press conference that she needs to improve in her game, while hoping to come out stronger after the French Open disappointment:

In hindsight, after the two matches I’ve played, it could have been nice to have saved yourself a match like today. I didn’t necessarily do as well as I’d like to this year. But I think the only way to face – and improve – how I’m feeling is to go through the tough parts, to go through the pain of it, and hopefully come out on the other side better and stronger.

The first WTA tour-level grass tournament is the Queen’s Club Championships. It kicks off on June 6. Raducanu has already admitted that she will play the event. She reached the quarter-finals of the tournament last year before losing to Qinwen Zheng in straight sets. Victoria Mboko has also announced her participation in the Queen’s tournament.

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