Emma Raducanu is looking to play a second-tier event in Birmingham next week, Telegraph Sport understands, thus dropping to the level below the WTA Tour for the first time since she won the 2021 US Open.
The move – which will require the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) to provide a wild card – suggests that Raducanu is trying to build confidence and endurance against a slightly lower-ranked class of player than she has been facing in recent weeks.
After a viral infection had kept her off the WTA Tour for 72 days, Raducanu made a brief and belated attempt to score some wins on clay in the second half of this month, only to run into a pair of players who are extremely comfortable on the surface: Diane Parry in Strasbourg and Solana Sierra at Roland Garros. She lost both matches in straight sets.
Grass is a far more natural surface for Raducanu, however, and the Lexus Birmingham Open will not draw as strong a field as the one at Queen’s – where Serena Williams plans to play doubles – the following week. Should Raducanu find her game, this event could prove more beneficial to her than a longer stay in Paris.
It has always seemed a little surprising that, during previous patches of poor form, Raducanu has not been prepared to drop down a level in order to fine-tune her game and bolster her self-belief. Some insiders have even queried whether she was concerned about the optics of potentially losing to a much lower-ranked player.
However, the idea of playing Birmingham would seem to accord with the views of Raducanu’s recently returned coach Andrew Richardson. It was Richardson who wassitting at court-side the last time – indeed the only time – Raducanu previously entered a 125-point event like this one – WTA tournaments offer 250, 500 or 1,000 points.
Asked to describe Richardson’s focus as a coach, one peer replied: “Repetition and discipline.” He will be keen to build up Raducanu’s match time this summer in the same way that he did in the summer of 2021.
Back then, she played 11 matches on American hard courts – mostly at a 100-point event in Pennsylvania and a 125 in Chicago – and thus came into the US Open’s qualifying tournament in a confident mood. History relates what happened next.
Birmingham should offer a good opportunity for Raducanu to find her feet on grass, because she is likely to be the top seed. However, this is still an unusually strong 125 because of its position at the beginning of the English summer swing.
The LTA entry list shows at least two other top-50 players in the 32-woman draw, and more than a dozen others who are ranked inside the top 100, including last year’s Queen’s champion Tatjana Maria.