Emma Raducanu: What is her clay and grass schedule? When will British No. 1 play next? Will she play French Open?
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Published 03/05/2023 at 09:48 GMT
Emma Raducanu pulled out of the Madrid Open with a hand injury, leaving questions over the rest of her clay-court season. The British No. 1 could be set to play at the Italian Open followed by the French Open, before the grass-court season gets underway. The French Open starts on May 28 and Raducanu is entered into the Grand Slam, even though she is set to drop out of the top 100.
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Emma Raducanu’s clay season is set to continue as she builds up to the 2023 French Open.
The British No. 1 is set to drop out of the top 100 in the WTA rankings after withdrawing from the Madrid Open with a hand injury.
But will she return before the next Grand Slam in Paris? And where is she scheduled to play over the coming months with Wimbledon also on the horizon?
What’s Raducanu’s schedule?
Raducanu is next entered into the Italian Open, which is the fifth WTA 1000 event of the season.
The tournament starts on May 9 and is the last big clay event before the French Open, which begins on Sunday, May 28.
Raducanu is directly entered into the French Open even though she is set to exit the top 100 following the Madrid Open. Last year she made her debut at the Grand Slam, losing in the second round to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Raducanu withdrew from the first round of the Italian Open in 2022 due to injury.
After the clay season comes the grass.
Raducanu has been confirmed to play at the Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, which starts on June 19. She may also enter the Rothesay Open the week before in Nottingham, and/or the Rothesay International in Eastbourne, which is a WTA 500 event and starts on June 26.
Eastbourne is the last grass event on the WTA Tour before Wimbledon, which gets under way on July 3.
But Raducanu’s plans over the next few months could change depending how she recovers from the injury that ruled her out of the Madrid Open.
What’s Raducanu’s injury latest?
After a 2022 season disrupted by niggling injury issues, Raducanu’s problems have continued this year.
The season didn’t get off to the best start when she twisted her ankle in Auckland, which put her Australian Open participation in doubt. Raducanu did play the Grand Slam but has since been battling a wrist problem which she admitted might need a long-term solution.
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Emma Raducanu has been battling a wrist injury
Image credit: Getty Images
Given her disappointing start to the clay season – a first-round loss in Stuttgart and withdrawal from Madrid – there could be the possibility for Raducanu to take some time away to rest the wrist and prepare for the grass.
That would mean missing out on potential ranking points in Rome and Paris, but might help her approach Wimbledon in better health.
Will Raducanu need a Wimbledon wild card?
Given her expected drop out of the top 100 after Madrid, Raducanu might need a wild card to play at Wimbledon.
It is around the 100 mark that the cut-off for direct entries for Grand Slams happens.
The women’s singles draw at Wimbledon has 108 direct entries, which in theory means the top 108-ranked women at the cut-off date qualify for the tournament. In practice, it is not usually the top 108 in the world who make it to the draw as there are also players who use protected rankings to enter, and injury absences.
The 108 players who do qualify directly are then joined in the draw by qualifiers and wild cards.
The cut-off date for direct entry for Wimbledon this year comes after the Italian Open finishes on May 22. If Raducanu is outside the direct entry ranking point at that time then she would either need to go through qualifying at Wimbledon or get a wild card.
There would likely be no issue getting a wild card as Raducanu is currently the highest-ranked British woman.
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