Raducanu’s road leads from Rome to a French Open fitness race and questions beyond
In the end Emma Raducanu was one of the first in and out the grandiose gates of the Foro Italico this year.She had arrived in Rome early, eager to test her health and readiness for top-level competition through a series of training sessions on the heavy red clay courts of the Italian Open.As the hours on court piled up, and her planned opening match on Thursday drew closer, it seemed reasonable to conclude that she would make her first appearance in two months.Instead, her absence from the courts will extend to more than two months.Things are rarely straightforward with Raducanu, demonstrated by the nature of her withdrawal in Rome, which occurred just 30 minutes after she gave little indication of her intention during a press conference.
The past few months, as usual, have come with ample speculation about Raducanu’s health, meaning her appearance in Rome was at least an opportunity for her to provide clarity on her recent struggles.Somehow, the manner of her exit only generated further questions.Still, Raducanu did explain the nature of her post-viral illness, which has affected her for two months.She had tried to push through a virus for much of February, but by March those symptoms still had not abated.“Post-viral, it’s quite hard, you feel drained, you feel tired, no energy, it’s difficult and it lingered for quite a while,” she said.
“Right now I wouldn’t say I’m 100%,I’m still building my way back,It is difficult to then kind of maintain it, even if your tennis level is very high, it’s difficult to maintain for the full duration of the match,”On Tuesday evening, Raducanu was also asked if she had considered skipping the clay-court season and heading straight to the grass, a decision she controversially made in 2024,Her outlook on clay, her least favourite surface, has evolved: “I’m not necessarily thinking everything for the grass, because I know in the years to come, every time, every week that I get on the clay courts, it’s going to help me for the future and longer term.
And it’s great for game development, for physical development, using your legs in a different way and loading.And I think it’s good for me as a player to be on the clay and spend time on it.”Katie Boulter’s Roland Garros preparations were dealt a blow after she went out of the Rome Masters in the first round to Eva Lys.Boulter (pictured) failed to build on an impressive second-set comeback at the WTA 1000 tournament and went down 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 to Lys, who had been a hitting partner for Emma Raducanu in Italy before she pulled out on Tuesday.Defeat for British No 3 Boulter continues her mixed clay-court campaign after a last-eight showing in Rouen was followed by a second-round exit at the Madrid Masters.
After Lys won five games in a row to take the first set, Boulter trailed 3-0 in the second before an excellent fightback,However, Boulter could not capitalise on her momentum at the start of the third set and was broken three times to suffer defeat after two hours and 24 minutes,PA MediaStill, the clay-court season is nearly over,The beginning of the Italian Open foreshadows the imminent arrival of Roland Garros,After two weeks in Rome, there is only one tournament week remaining on the WTA Tour before the French Open.
Raducanu is hoping to receive a late wildcard for the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg, but time is running out as she attempts to be healthy enough to compete in the second major tournament of the year.Whether or not she manages to compete in Paris, the central issue in Raducanu’s career is unchanged.For all the intrigue and mystery surrounding her tennis and coaching decisions, by far Raducanu’s biggest issue is the fact that she has been stuck in a banal cycle of injuries, illnesses and physical ailments since the beginning of her career.Fleeting periods of good health have been anomalous in her entire experience as a professional tennis player.In isolation, her post-viral illness may be a case of bad luck but this is the latest setback in a long line of ailments and injuries that has kept Raducanu off the court for such a long time.
This season has been particularly miserable considering what preceded it.For the first time in her career, Raducanu had put together a consistent run of matches on the tour.She had won plenty of contests, particularly triumphing over most opponents she was expected to defeat.There were countless areas for improvement, particularly with the number of heavy losses she suffered against top players, but Raducanu had set herself up well for the new season.Five months into the 2026 campaign, that positive progress feels like a lifetime ago.
This season, her three-month struggle with this virus and its lingering symptoms was preceded by a foot injury that had sidelined her for most of the off-season and meant that days before her first match of the year she was still just doing static feeding drills.Since signing a lucrative contract with Uniqlo, Raducanu has contested only two matches in Indian Wells.She will now look to Strasbourg hoping that when she is next able to step on to the match court, she will actually be able to remain on it for the foreseeable future.
‘Climate solutions will bring down bills and restore nature’: green issues and May elections
The defining issue of Thursday’s local elections, feedback from doorsteps suggests, will be the UK’s soaring cost of living. But voters should be told about the links between inflation and the effects of fossil fuels and the climate crisis – or the remedies they choose – may make the situation worse, green campaigners have warned.Ami McCarthy, the head of politics at Greenpeace UK, said: “With people’s bills and prices soaring from yet another fossil fuel crisis, these local elections have a global context – driven by the Iran war.“Getting the UK out of the fossil fuel doom loop and on to renewables would secure a stable and affordable supply of energy. Voters face a choice between parties that want to keep us hooked on expensive, imported oil and gas, and those that offer a way out of this cycle of insecurity
Burnham sparks Labour anger with plan to appear at event alongside Greens
Andy Burnham’s decision to appear at a progressive rally alongside prominent Green and Liberal Democrat figures has sparked anger among some Labour MPs, who have accused him of undermining their local election message.The Greater Manchester mayor, who is seen as one of the most likely challengers to Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership, will be speaking at the Change:Now event this month organised by the leftwing group Compass.Compass’s founder, Neal Lawson, has long campaigned for a cross-party progressive alliance but is also a prominent supporter of Burnham.Two other Labour MPs, Clive Lewis, who has offered to give up his seat for Burnham, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the communities minister, are also due to speak at the event. Other speakers include Caroline Lucas, the former Green party leader; James Meadway, the head of the Green-aligned thinktank Verdant; Vince Cable, the former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister; and the Lib Dem MP Roz Savage
Scottish mum stuck abroad after baby falls foul of UK dual nationality rules
A British woman from Aberdeen has been stranded abroad after her 11-month-old baby was prevented from boarding a flight because of new rules regarding dual nationals.Sarah Schloegl was unable to board a Ryanair flight from Alicante last week after she went to Spain for a short break with her Austrian husband, Philipp, their three-year-old daughter and 11-month-old baby.Since February, British dual nationals have had to show a British passport or a certificate of entitlement of abode, costing £589, when they board flights, trains or ferries to the UK.Schloegl said she followed the news but was unaware of this change and argued it should have been displayed on posters in airports and on airline websites months before it happened so that passengers did not fall foul of the rule on return journeys.The first she knew of the rule change was when she got to the departure gate in Alicante
How to ensure donors can’t buy political influence | Letters
George Monbiot is surely right that large private donations poison democratic trust, whether or not corruption can ever be shown (Political donations are poison to our democracy – but there’s an easy antidote to that, 30 April). The damage lies not only in any favour bought but in the suspicion created. When one billionaire can appear to sustain a political party, politics begins to look less like representation and more like private ownership.Monbiot’s membership-based model has moral weight. It would force parties to organise among citizens rather than flatter wealth and it would make politicians seek members, not patrons
Lib Dems accuse Badenoch of being willing to ‘put Farage in No 10’ after she hints she would approve council pacts – as it happened
Kemi Badenoch has suggested she would be happy for Conservatives councillors to govern in cooperation with Reform UK councillors.In an interview with Sky News, asked about the possibility of Tory/Reform pacts at local level, she at first said that in the councils where Reform won last year, there were no coalitions with the Conservatives.But she went on:double quotation markWe are willing to work with people who will help deliver Conservative policies.Commenting on this answer, Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said:double quotation markLifelong Conservative voters across the country will be appalled that Kemi Badenoch is opening the door to coalitions with Reform.This is a dress rehearsal for the next general election when the Conservatives are preparing to put Nigel Farage into Number 10
One of the last true believers, Pat McFadden is sent out to defend kryptonite Keir | John Crace
‘Twas the night before the elections, when all through No 10, not a creature was stirring, not even a hen. Mainly because Downing Street had come to the conclusion that letting Keir Starmer loose on the campaign trail was a surefire way to lose votes.Canvassers from all over the country had confirmed what the polls were saying. That the prime minister was kryptonite to Labour’s chances. Mention his name to voters and people would turn their heads away
Norwegian government attacked over decision to reopen North Sea gasfields
In this budget, all eyes are on CGT. But Labor’s rumoured family trust tweaks might also help fight tax inequality | Greg Jericho
TikTok’s algorithm favored Republican content in 2024 US elections, study finds
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Raducanu’s road leads from Rome to a French Open fitness race and questions beyond
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