Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from the Italian Open just minutes after conducting a press conference expressing her excitement for the upcoming WTA 1000 event. The Brit hasn’t played a competitive match since early March at Indian Wells, with Rome now the fourth consecutive tournament she’s pulled out of.
Raducanu is yet to compete on clay this season and will have just one more opportunity to do so before the upcoming French Open, which gets underway later this month. She did play in Strasbourg before Roland-Garros last year, but it’s another blow to what’s been a dismal 2026 for Raducanu.
Raducanu’s return was expected to come in Rome, where she’d been given a bye into the second round. But just minutes after taking part in a press conference, news that Raducanu had withdrawn from the tournament was confirmed, with illness having been cited as the reason why.
It’s a double blow for Raducanu, given she was defending 120 ranking points after making it to the fourth round of the Italian Open last year. Raducanu has dropped to 30th in the world and is at serious risk of falling out of the seeding positions (top 32) for the French Open.
It comes after former professional Greg Rusedski had urged Raducanu to get back on the court as early as possible. He’d said: “If your preparation on the clay is really good, even if you’re not a natural clay quarter, your results really end up going well on the grass court season.
“I always felt that myself. I wasn’t the best clay court player on the planet, but I used that period to get myself stronger, move better, you know, get all those aspects in. So when I came to the grass, it was just so easy.
“So Emma needs to get back on court. You can’t just say, okay, let’s give up clay and let’s just get onto the grass courts. I think you’ve got to get the balance. The first thing is get healthy. Get rid of this virus, get to your nutritionist, get your diet right, get your vitamin intake, what you need to get rid of this virus. Because it’s such a shame she hasn’t been able to play it.”
All of the WTA’s top 20 are scheduled to compete in Rome, with Jasmine Paolini looking to defend the title she won 12 months ago. On the men’s side of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz won’t play a part in the tournament, with Jannik Sinner aiming to win his first Italian Open title.