Emma Raducanu is set to MISS the French Open after withdrawing from qualifying - with only one route into the tournament providing hope

Emma Raducanu is likely to miss the French open after withdrawing from qualifying. 

It is unclear why Raducanu, 21, has decided not to try and enter the tournament via the qualifying draw.

Ranked 221st in the world on April 29 - the cut-off point of qualifying entry - she had an automatic place in the draw.

However, she removed herself from the list on Saturday.  

Her only hope of making it now relies on three players pulling out of the main draw before qualifying begins at 9am UK time on Monday. 

As of April 15, when the original entry list was released, the 2021 US Open winner was the fifth alternate.

She has already moved up a couple of spaces to become the third alternate, but is therefore still relying on three more withdrawals before Monday.

Raducanu has a protected ranking of 103rd due to the surgery she had on her wrist and ankle in 2023, but this is not high enough to earn a place in the main draw automatically. 

Meanwhile, the organisers look to favour French players with the six wildcard slots.  

Raducanu has switched to practising on hard courts as opposed to clay this week, subtly acknowledging that her chances of going to Roland Garros have faded.

The first round of the French Open is due to start next Sunday.

This week, Raducanu hit out at the gender pay gap in tennis and claimed female stars are underappreciated. 

'A lot of women’s players are technically better,' she told The Times. 'They rely on speed, agility and brain rather than brute strength.

'The prize money gap is huge on the ATP tour, which I don’t necessarily think is fair, but equally playing three sets in the slams is a lot better than the men’s five, which is brutal.'

In relation to the prize money, the French Open will give equal sums to both sexes, with both male and female winners set to receive €2.4 million (£2.1m), but this is not the norm.

For example, the Italian Open this week is offering £550,000 to its female champion, compared to around £750,000 to the winner of the men's tournament.

Meanwhile, Raducanu has always outlined her full dedication to her craft, but she continues to receive criticism for her various marketing and sponsorship commitments, with some arguing it has impacted her development on the court.

These include lucrative deals with the likes of British Airways, Porsche, Evian, Nike and HSBC among others.

However, the 21-year-old Brit insisted she is extremely driven and said her success comes from her family's strong work ethic, describing her parents Ian and Renee as 'pushy' during her youth, before she added that she does not 'regret any of their methods'.

She explained: 'They are so pushy. When I was younger more so. Now they are at a place where they tell me what they think is best, but they realise ultimately that the more they push the more I am going to resist.

'I’ve seen some great people who I was playing with in the juniors who had way more lenient parents, who were like, "It’s OK if you lost", and those players don’t play tennis any more, so I don’t blame my parents for it.'