Colin Fleming, Anne Keothavong talk Emma Raducanu's next move after early Madrid Open exit; Play at the French Open or rest until grass season? watch over 80 tournaments a year, including the US Open, exclusively live on Sky Sports Tennis
Wednesday 15 May 2024 10:34, UK
After a solid run of form for Emma Raducanu on the clay, 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 this time last year following a first-round exit in Stuttgart.
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 sudden dive at the Madrid Open when the 21-year-old exited the tournament after a first-round straight-sets defeat by world No 82 Maria Lourdes Carle.
The Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome takes place from May 7, but Raducanu looks likely to miss that tournament after signing up to play a WTA 500 event on clay in Strasbourg, which runs from May 18-25.
The tournament is scheduled one week before the start of the French Open on May 26, although Raducanu is not guaranteed automatic entry into the main draw despite using her protected ranking of 103, with the Brit fifth on the alternates list. She could enter and play qualifying, however.
"Emma and her team need to have an open conversation [about next plans]. It's been a largely positive start to the season," Colin Fleming said on Sky Sports Tennis.
"How do you schedule the next few weeks to make sure you do better. Is it miss Rome and go Roland Garros qualifying? Is it to miss the rest of the clay and be ready for the grass?
"She doesn't want to play and put in more performances like that, because then it becomes a bit of a habit. She needs to wipe the slate clean and make better decisions.
"I'd love to see her go to Roland Garros and play, even if it's qualifying. It would be three weeks from now without Rome, and if she's fit and healthy, of course she can qualify. Once you're in the main draw, who knows what can happen."
Sky Sports' Anne Keothavong spoke too of the benefits of Raducanu taking a rest ahead of gearing up for 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?"
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 the second Grand Slam of 2024 - the French Open at Roland Garros from May 26 - you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the clay-court season.
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