Emma Raducanu has accepted a wildcard entry into the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg next week as part of her final preparations for the upcoming French Open.
Following an encouraging run at the Italian Open, where she reached the fourth round before falling to World No. 3 Coco Gauff, Raducanu expressed a strong desire for more competitive match play ahead of Roland Garros. Her current form has pushed her up to World No. 42 in the live WTA rankings.
Speaking after her loss in Rome, the British No. 2 shared her mindset with Sky Sports:
“I would love to just keep improving, keep playing. I don’t want to go and hide in a hole somewhere — I want to get back out there.”
With her wildcard confirmed, Raducanu joins a strong field in Strasbourg, including top-10 talents Jessica Pegula, Paula Badosa, and Emma Navarro. The French Open begins on May 25.
Reflecting on her development, Raducanu acknowledged she needs to play more aggressively to challenge elite opponents.
“To have success, I need to keep swinging and committing to my forehand. I had a lot of success doing that in the first three rounds,” she said.
She also pointed out the importance of gaining experience against higher-ranked players, admitting she hasn’t consistently faced top-tier competition due to time away from the tour.
“It’s valuable for me to see and adjust to the kind of heavy, shaped, and unpredictable balls they hit. I need to keep developing weapons for finishing shorter balls and improve my finesse at the net.”
Strasbourg offers her a final opportunity to sharpen those skills before taking on the challenge of clay-court Grand Slam tennis in Paris.
