Emma Raducanu Falls Short in Return After Two-Month Absence

Emma Raducanu suffered a disappointing first-round defeat in her return to the WTA Tour after two months away.

The British number one has been recovering from a virus over the last few weeks and has not played since a defeat to Amanda Anisimova in the third round of Indian Wells in March.

Raducanu played in the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg, France, after being granted a wildcard. Disappointingly, Raducanu was defeated by French fan favourite Diane Parry 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

After a stop-start beginning to her season, it will mean that Raducanu will have played just one match on clay before the French Open begins later this week.

After a 10-week absence from the Tour, Raducanu has slipped from 23rd to 37th in the world rankings, and she will not be seeded at Roland Garros.

Her match against Parry was the first she had played since reuniting with the coach she had won the US Open alongside, Andrew Richardson. Despite getting off to a positive start and finding herself in a 4-2 lead in the first set, errors started creeping into Raducanu’s game.

Double faults became Raducanu’s downfall, with Parry being able to get herself back into contention before taking the first set.

After saving five break points to prevent Parry from pulling away early in the second set, Raducanu briefly found her rhythm and struck first, only for the world number 94 to break back straight away.

Parry then edged ahead again at 5-4, but Raducanu showed strong resistance, saving two attempts to serve out the match and forcing a tiebreak.

Despite frustration that saw Parry send the ball into the stands, she regrouped and eventually closed out a straight-sets win after two hours and 26 minutes.

Although the defeat limits Raducanu’s preparation for the French Open, there were encouraging signs for the Briton heading into Paris.

She appeared composed with Richardson offering guidance and support from the coaching box, and she demonstrated real resilience by saving 16 break points and staying competitive throughout.

Parry will now face either China’s Shuai Zhang in the second round after Zhang defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-5.