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Tennis fans recently reacted to Emma Raducanu beginning her preparations for the upcoming grass court season, following her withdrawal from the 2024 French Open. She was originally scheduled to compete in the qualifying rounds at Roland Garros but withdrew just before the matches were set to commence on Monday, May 20.
Raducanu missed most of the previous season due to undergoing three surgeries - one on each wrist and one on her ankle. As a result, she was unable to participate in three out of the four Grand Slam tournaments of the year, including the French Open, Wimbledon Championships, and the US Open.
This year, the Brit made a comeback to the court, but her performances have been lackluster, with her best showing being at the 2024 Stuttgart Open where she reached the quarterfinals before being defeated by Iga Swiatek 7-6(2), 6-3.
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Due to her absence last season and her underwhelming performance this year, Emma Raducanu's ranking was not high enough to secure direct entry to the 2024 French Open. She did not receive a wildcard to the main draw and was required to go through the qualifiers. However, she ultimately withdrew from the tournament just before the qualifying rounds were set to begin.
The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the national governing body of tennis in Great Britain, took to social media to share a video of the former World No.10 preparing for the upcoming grasscourt swing. She will reportedly kick off her grass court season at the 2024 Nottingham Open which is scheduled to begin on June 8.
Tennis fans were surprised to see Raducanu skipping a Grand Slam tournament to focus on practicing for the grasscourt season. They took to social media to express their disappointment and opinions on her decision.
After watching the LTA's video, one fan humorously commented that Emma Raducanu had superbly ignored the French Open.
"She literally said f clay 😭 ," the fan posted.
Another fan suggested that Raducanu's withdrawal from the French Open indicated that she was more focused on "practicing" rather than gaining match experience.
"Emma Raducanu, Practicing for the next period of practicing," a fan posted.
"Anything to avoid a bit of hard work. All this extra practice. Are we expecting her to do really well then?" a fan posted.
"The British are so unserious," a fan wrote.
A different fan speculated that Raducanu's loss to Argentine qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle in the first round of the Madrid Open had "traumatized" her, leading to her decision to pull out of the French Open.
"That loss to [Maria Lourdes] Carle traumatised her 😭 ," a fan posted.
Many fans were left feeling astounded by Emma Raducanu's decision to focus on practicing for the grasscourt season, which is yet to begin, instead of participating in the clay court Major which is just around the corner.
"Damn so April-June is just the off season season for the British girls to prepare for grass… 😭 ," a fan wrote.
"Skipped clay for grass where it begins in months? Nevermind, she's the queen after all," a fan posted.
Emma Raducanu reached the second round the last time she played at the French Open
Emma Raducanu had reached just the second round the last time she played at the French Open, which was in 2022. She missed the tournament last year due to wrist and ankle surgeries.
In her debut at Roland Garros in 2022, Raducanu was seeded 12th. She began her campaign in Paris against qualifier Linda Noskova and defeated her 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1 to win the first round. However, her campaign ended in the following round when she was defeated by Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich in a match that ended 6-3, 1-6, 1-6.
Following her French Open campaign, Emma Raducanu also participated in the Nottingham Open in 2022. She began her campaign by going up Viktorija Golubic in the first round.
The former World No.10 was trailing 3-4 in the first set when she decided to pull out of the match due to an injury. This setback also led to her decision to pull out of the subsequent Eastbourne International due to the same injury.
