'A big ask' in Paris - will a stronger Raducanu emerge at Wimbledon?

Electing to skip the entire clay-court season was clearly an option for Emma Raducanu.

After suffering a 6-0 7-6 (7-4) defeat by Argentina's Solana Sierra in the Roland Garros first round, British number one Raducanu could be forgiven for wishing she had stayed back home.

The bulk of her 2026 season has been decimated by a viral illness and how far she is behind her peers was starkly laid bare in what was only her second match back after more than two months away from tour action.

The world number 39's lack of match practice was clear in a display where she produced arguably one of the lowest levels of her career in a 23-minute first set.

Sitting out Roland Garros and getting down to work with Andrew Richardson - the coach who Raducanu has rehired after he unceremoniously left following her 2021 US Open win - would have been a logical move.

Spending time on the practice court and honing her game could have paid dividends for the British grass season, where the aggressive brand of tennis she wants to play is more suited to than the clay.

Raducanu says she stands by the decision to go to Paris. She believes trying to grind through her troubles will ultimately help her revive a career which continues to flag.

"It was always going to be a big ask coming in. I really wanted to play the French, so that was my decision," said Raducanu, who had only lost a set 6-0 once before at a Grand Slam event.

"In hindsight, after the two matches I've played, it could have been nice to have saved yourself a match like today.

"I didn't necessarily do as well as I'd like to this year. But I think the only way to face - and improve - how I'm feeling is to go through the tough parts, to go through the pain of it, and hopefully come out on the other side better and stronger."

Raducanu losing to Sierra was not a surprise in itself, even though the Briton is ranked 29 places higher in the world.

Since Indian Wells in early March, Raducanu has only played one match - and that only came last week in a straight-set defeat by France's Diane Parry in Strasbourg.

The post-viral issues have continued to have lingering effects. In Paris, she was coughing between points and was still struggling on her way to the post-match interviews.

Sierra, on the other hand, was healthy, as well as having the benefit of matches in her legs and more rhythm in her racquet.

The difference was clear in a woeful first set from a subdued Raducanu.

The 23-year-old's tactic of aggressively hitting early in the rallies, and a reluctance to patiently wait for chances to attack, underlined her keenness to swarm her opponent.

Her lack of court time, plus the 30C heat in Paris, meant it made sense for Raducanu to try to end the points quickly.

However, her timing was well out and led to a high volume of unforced errors.

"I felt like the conditions were extremely lively, and I felt like I wasn't able to kind of trust my shots in that and didn't feel like I had control over the ball," Raducanu said.

"It was a really difficult set-up for me to step into, having not had many matches.

"I think probably just a bit light on matches, a bit light on confidence coming into the tournament."

Sierra was always going to provide a tricky test, especially at this early stage of Raducanu's latest comeback.

Having started playing on the red dirt aged three, 21-year-old Sierra recently demonstrated her ability by pushing reigning French Open champion Coco Gauff in Rome.

Understanding Raducanu would have a lack of sharpness, Sierra controlled the baseline rallies and cleverly dragged her opponent from side to side before unleashing precise winners.

Raducanu was regularly unable to push out of corners with the explosive power needed to get back into position.

Sierra also exposed her relative lack of mobility by bringing out the drop-shot to great effect.

Unlike Sierra, Raducanu is not a natural clay-courter and her body language - head bowed, stony face and muted reactions - told the story on a surface where she lacks belief.

Nothing seemed to rally Raducanu in that chastening first set. Not Richardson and her team. And not the cajoling from a Brit-heavy crowd.

There certainly were not many positives for anyone to take when Raducanu was a set and a double break down.

But the fact she managed to show fight and take the second set into a tie-break was a crumb of comfort.

When Raducanu trailed 6-0 4-1, it looked like the scoreline would match the worst Grand Slam defeat of her career - a humiliating 6-1 6-0 loss to six-time major champion Iga Swiatek at the 2025 Australian Open.

But she eventually was able to prolong the rallies and draw mistakes from Sierra as she threatened to force a decider.

While that was a positive, it still goes down in the books as another early exit at one of the sport's four major tournaments.

Raducanu, who became increasingly emotional during her news conference, admitted that maintaining a positive mindset can be difficult with the number of setbacks she has endured.

"I think you need a lot of resilience. I think I'm trying my best each day, and I think that's all I can ask of myself," she said.

This defeat is undoubtedly another bump in the road of what has been a rocky journey since her unprecedented victory in New York.

But it will be quickly forgotten if Raducanu can get back on track - with Richardson's help - as the pair now do turn their attention towards Wimbledon.