Emma Raducanu could be returning to the match court sooner than expected after a disappointing Roland Garros.
Raducanu lost to Solana Sierra in her first round match at Roland Garros, which was her earliest ever exit at the tournament.
This was just the Briton’s second match in over two months after struggling with a viral illness, and Raducanu was clearly emotional in her post-match press conference.
Raducanu was expected to have a couple of weeks away from the match court ahead of the Queen’s Club Championships, but she could now be back on grass even sooner than that.
Emma Raducanu wants to play WTA 125 event in Birmingham
Raducanu recently reunited with Andrew Richardson, the coach who helped her win the US Open in 2021, and they are reportedly wanting to get their grass court season going straight away.
According to The Telegraph, Raducanu is hoping to play at the lower-level WTA 125 tournament in Birmingham next week.
This would be the first time that Raducanu has played a WTA 125 tournament since prior to becoming a Grand Slam champion, but this seems like the perfect decision for the world number 39.
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Raducanu would be the top seed in Birmingham, ahead of the likes of Janice Tjen and Alexandra Eala, if she is granted a wildcard as expected.
The number one thing Raducanu needs right now after a difficult couple of months is matches, and at a lower-level tournament she would have a better chance of getting to a latter stage on a surface she is comfortable on.
Raducanu is also trying to implement more of an aggressive game style, which was not coming off so much at Roland Garros, and playing against lower ranked opponents in Birmingham should allow her more leeway to make mistakes as she tries to alter her game.
Emma Raducanu should have a clear goal in mind ahead of Wimbledon
As a result of her recent inactivity on the WTA Tour, Raducanu has dropped down to world number 39 in the rankings and is currently outside the top 40 in the live rankings after her Roland Garros exit.
This means that Raducanu is currently forecast to be outside the 32 seeded places for Wimbledon this year, particularly as she is defending another 108 ranking points from reaching the Queen’s Club Championships quarterfinals last year.
Raducanu would therefore be at risk of drawing players including world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the first round of Wimbledon this year as an unseeded player.
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This is something that Raducanu will not want to happen, and by playing in Birmingham she has given herself a chance to boost her ranking.
Raducanu could earn up to 125 points if she wins the title in Birmingham, which would enable her to defend all the points she earned at Queen’s last year and more.
The 23-year-old would then have an opportunity to continue her momentum and maybe have a chance of making a deep run at Queen’s as well.
Regardless of whether she is able to be seeded in time for Wimbledon, Raducanu’s main priority should be getting as much matchplay as possible in the upcoming weeks, and she has proven she can be a real threat on grass before.
The WTA 125 tournament in Birmingham gets underway on Monday, June 1.
