Raducanu pulls out of French Open qualifying to train on grass

Former US Open winner Emma Raducanu is likely to miss the French Open at Roland Garros after withdrawing from this week's qualifying tournament.

While the Briton is a third alternate for the main draw, successfully coming through qualifying, which starts on Monday, would have offered her a guaranteed route to the main draw.

Her name, however, did not appear among the qualifiers listed Sunday on the Roland Garros website.

"It's important for me to keep laying on the foundations and I will use the time to do a healthy block before the grass and subsequent hard court seasons to give myself a chance to keep fit for the rest of the year," Raducanu said Sunday in a statement quoted by British media.

The 21-year-old won the US Open title in 2021 but has since suffered from regular injury problems and is now ranked 212 in the world.

Her only appearance on the red clay in Paris was in 2022 when, seeded 12th, she lost in three sets to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round, and she was not awarded a wild card for this year's edition.

Raducanu reached the quarter-finals in Stuttgart last month where she lost to world number one Iga Swiatek but then slipped to a straight-sets, first-round loss at the Madrid Open last month to world No 82 Lourdes Carle.

After that match, Raducanu said she was "mentally and emotionally exhausted".

The French Open main tournament begins on May.

pb/bsp