Emma Raducanu has opted to take a short break from tennis following her impressive run to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open and her clay-court plans are now being firmed up.
Raducanu pulled out of Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup ties in the Netherlands this week and next week’s WTA 250 tournament in Rouen, France, as she looked to take a few days away from competitive action after a long run in Miami.
There was some uncertainty over when Raducanu would return to action, with some suggestions that she would look to play her first event of the clay-court campaign in Madrid later in April.
Raducanu’s name is still on the entry list for the Madrid Open, which gets underway on April 22, and now her name has appeared on the list of competitors for the Italian Open in Rome, which starts on May 6.
The 2021 US Open champion turned in a poor performance as she lost in the first round in Madrid last year and she was forced to retire in the only match she played in Rome back in 2022.
There will be 1,000 ranking points up for grabs for the winner in Madrid and Rome, with big hauls also available to players who enjoy a deep run in the competition.
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With just 108 ranking points to defend during the clay-court season, Raducanu has a great chance to climb the WTA Rankings, with her absence from last year’s French Open giving her a real chance to leap the list if she can make progress at Roland Garros.
While the 22-year-old lacks experience on clay courts, she turned in some impressive performances on the red dirt while playing for Great Britain in last year’s Bille Jean King Cup in France and she will be a player to watch over the next few weeks if she can find a winning formula on an unfamiliar surface.
After being heavily criticised for not playing enough tournaments in 2024, Raducanu has had a much more active schedule this year, with former British No 1 Tim Henman backing her decision-making on her schedule this year.
“If she can stay healthy and competes a lot, the results will come because she’s that good,” said Sky Sports Tennis analyst Henman.
“If she wasn’t good enough, you’d say she has to pick her tournaments and play some weaker events. With Emma, if she stays healthy, I’m convinced the results will follow.
“I never thought it was about her level. When she has played, her level has always been very good, but if you look at the breakdown of her ranking last year, I think she played 33 matches and 11 of them were on grass.
“When you look at the other 10 months of the year, to have only played 22 matches is so few. She is aware of that, I’m sure, and she will get a coach at the right moment, but for me, the physical work she is doing is most significant.
“I’ve always been a big, big advocate of playing matches. I always played a lot of matches and Emma is right to do that now.
“She talks about having fun and being authentic, which gives her the opportunity to express herself on the court. That being said, she does it differently. She is very comfortable. She’s changed coaches.
“That’s not necessarily what everyone else likes to do, but she’s comfortable changing that up.
“But for me, as Marion touched upon, building physical resilience, I think is the most important thing. That is what has been lacking because she’s almost had her career back to front, qualifying and winning that Grand Slam without really the physical foundation. Her body was breaking down when she was in competition.
“I think the big positive this year is that she’s been able to compete more consistently and hopefully the results are going to come.”
It should be noted that even though Raducanu’s name appears on the entry list for the WTA 1000 tournaments in Madrid and Rome, she could still opt to withdraw if she decides she needs more time away from the game.
The post Emma Raducanu’s next tournaments may have been confirmed as clay-court plan emerges appeared first on Tennis365.
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