Highlights: Raducanu exits French Open after first-round defeat
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The British No. 1 was beaten in the first round at Roland-Garros on Sunday, losing 6-0 7-6(4) to Solana Sierra to abruptly end any hopes of a strong run in Paris.Raducanu said it was ”not a nice feeling” to be on the wrong end of a bagel set in the opener on her first appearance since reuniting with coach Andrew Richardson, who she won the US Open title alongside in 2021.
Former British No. 1 Konta, a four-time WTA title winner who reached the French Open semi-finals in 2019, believes it is ”not all dire” for Raducanu despite the disappointment of suffering an early exit in the French capital.
”I think more than anything right now it will be about taking a slight step back. I don’t think hanging everything on this loss is the way to go,” Konta told TNT Sports.
”She’s had quite a few weeks away from the game with illness. I think there is a certain perspective that needs to be practiced here. She is back with the coach she had during the US Open when she won [Richardson]. There are a few things in motion.
”I know she took this loss very hard, as we could see in her press conference. I’m sure there will be an ache for her this morning, but I think there is a lot to still look forward to for her.
Watch as Raducanu suffers nightmare bagel in opening set against Sierra
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”The grass-court season is coming up, she is going to start putting in more work with her coach, so it’s not all dire. But I know that’s not how it always feels in practicality.”
Raducanu has struggled to find form in 2026 thus far, reaching the final of the Transylvania Open in February after a second-round Australian Open exit but winning just one tour-level match since then and spending two months away from the court recovering from a post-viral illness. Now ranked No. 39 in the world, Raducanu’s decision to re-appoint Richardson as her coach at the start of May came after Francisco Roig left in the wake of the Australian Open in January.
But Konta believes discussions about the 23-year-old’s coaching changes are overblown and pointed to an area where she believes improvement could come.
”I feel like these questions about coaches are always set up to answer in the way of, ‘Oh well, she needs someone stable for a long time’ and I don’t think that is necessarily the case,” Konta said.
”In my career I had quite a few coaches and got a lot of stick from the media because of it. I actually stayed with some coaches too long because I didn’t want to seem like I was switching too early.
”One thing I’ve always admired about Emma – and in hindsight you can look at if it didn’t pay off or it did – is that she has taken the initiative and taken decisions whether they are popular or deemed correct. She has always stuck by them, so I wouldn’t sit here and say she needs stability in her coaching area.
”I definitely think she needs stability in how she sees herself as a player, and that can be from the direction of a coach. So, in that perspective, yes of course, if there is a message that is consistent, that can only be beneficial for her.
”But for her, what is really important from a game perspective is to find her identity as a player, re-find it and add to it. We know she’s a good mover, we know she can use pace well and direct the ball well, it’s a very fluid and natural part of her game – really lean into that.
Watch as Raducanu exits French Open in ‘dramatic fashion’ after defeat to Sierra
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”She needs to bolster that and add bits around it to make what she does well effective, because players know her now. That is the territory that she finds herself in, she has to know that players are going to step up against her, be motivated and know how to play her.
”She needs to add a bit of unpredictability to that to make what she does well effective again.”
Konta added: ”I think the way her game style is, if she finds that consistency in her identity, she is the kind of game style that will naturally pick up a lot of matches on tour.
”I think she’ll find a way to start winning more and then when she comes into Slams feeling more assured and sure of what she’s doing out there, a bit more helicopter-view perspective of where she is in her career, I think that’s what will then lend her into going into the latter stages of a Slam.
”There is no formula for it, or quick fix, but the more time she can spend in bolstering herself as a person, in the work she’s doing on a daily basis, the better position she will be in to convert that into wins.”
How to move on from US Open win – ‘It will always follow her’
At the age of 23, Raducanu is in a position most players would love to be, inside the top 40 in the world and with a major title to her name.
Her stunning run to glory at Flushing Meadows five years ago came in only her second Slam appearance, as a teenage qualifier, and without dropping a set.
It was such an astonishing achievement that Konta believes it will always draw attention, but she also thinks that as time passes it will get easier for Raducanu to move on.
”The fact of the matter is that because she’s won a Slam, the bar will always be so high,” Konta said.
”Yes, someone of her age breaking into the top 40, spending a couple of seasons in the top 100, it’s a successful career.
Highlights: Boulter holds off Urhobo to progress
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”However, because of the way her career started, if you say to any player that their career will start with winning a Slam, it’s still an unheard of thing to experience. So that will always follow her.
”But as she gets older, gets more time and distance from what happened at the US Open in 2021, I think it will naturally work itself out. I think the more time she can spend on court focusing on the work and getting enjoyment and self-worth from that work, the more we’ll see her flourish from a results standpoint.”
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