Raducanu’s comeback: what can we expect?

Diane Parry arrives in Strasbourg in the best form of her clay season. She lifted the Clarins Trophy yesterday after a week of very high-quality tennis on the Parisian clay, with wins over Haddad Maia and Gracheva before Keys retired in the final. The 23-year-old Frenchwoman is riding a four-match winning streak and is almost playing at home in Alsace. Her tennis on this surface has been built from the start on the Challenger and ITF circuits, with six titles all on clay and an ability to produce her best level on dirt when she’s confident. She comes into Monday with exactly that: confidence, rhythm, and fresh legs despite the week in Paris.

On the other side, Emma Raducanu is making her big return after 70 days away. What people often forget is that she’s no stranger to clay: 13–11 in her career on WTA clay, a record that hides some solid performances on this surface. Her best result remains a quarterfinal in Stuttgart in 2024, where she pushed Swiatek all the way, proof that she knows how to construct points on clay and that her baseline game naturally adapts to it. But between knowing how to play on clay and coming in without a single match since March, there’s a gap that even talent can’t bridge in a day.

The narrative angle is strong: Andrew Richardson, the man behind the 2021 US Open title, is back in her box after his stint at the Ferrer Academy in Spain. A reunited partnership, a rare sense of continuity in Emma’s career, but one that’s being built around a player whose physical condition remains a complete unknown after persistent post-viral symptoms all the way through Rome.