Emma Raducanu will head to the Sunday start at Roland Garros with one clay court match in her spring resumee after taking a 6-4, 7-6 (4) opening loss in Strasbourg to Diane Parry.

The Briton had played her last match more than two months ago at Indian Wells, came and went on the clay Tuesday after a long pause due to various injury and illness scenarios.

The No. 37 was coachless until a few days ago when she returned Andrew Richardson to post after he guided her to the US Open title in 2021 as a teenaged qualifier.

Raducanu could well struggle in Paris when Grand Slam play gets underway after missing most of the spring.

The Brit got away to a 4-2 led over Frenchwoman Parry, but the margin soon evaporated as double-faults came into play.

She salvaged five break points in the second set but was unable to establish a comeback rhythm  against her 94th-ranked local opponent.

Raducanu managed to stop Parry from serving out a 5-4 lead but was unable to make a match of it in the tiebreaker as she took the loss after two and a half hours in the French city near the German border.

Though she lost serve five times, Raducanu did hold off 16 other break chances in the defeat.

Emma Raducanu has gone back to the future with her latest choice of coach, choosing to re-group with the mentor who helped her to a US Open title five long years ago.

The Briton whose career has been a patchwork of changing coaches and near-constant injuries and illness since her 2021 big day in New York, revealed she has re-employed Andrew Richardson, her OG coach.

The pair split not long after then-teenaged Raducanu won the Open title from an unprecedented qualifying start.

She has since struggled and wil head to Roland Garros from next Sunday with only one clay tournament, a late wild-card entry into Strasbourg.

“Grateful to have reconnected with someone who has known me for over a decade now and looking forward to building together one iteration at a time,” she posted on social media.

The WTA no. 30 has played just 15 matches this season – none on clay – with her last one more than two months ago.

Main photo:- Emma Raducanu with her coach, Andrew Richardson at the 2021 US Open

Elena Rybakina left it late, with the last woman to qualify into the field for the WTA Finals in Saudi, toppling world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6 (0) on Saturday to lift the year-end title.   

Former Wimbledon winner Rybakina only booked the eighth and final spot in the showpiece at the last second, reaching a Tokyo semi-final last month to help her on the road to Riyadh.

Rybakina’s trophy – her third of the season – was worth in excess of UDS 5 million as the Saudis continue to move into tennis through the power of prize money and perks.

The Kazakh also lifted trophies in Strasbourg and Ningbo before becoming the 10th consecutive first-time WTA Finals champion. 

She wrapped up the season with a 58–19 record, a personal best. 

Rybakina took a 4-2 lead to win the opening set against the world’s top player and swept the second -set tiebreaker to lift the trophy.

Sabalenka ended the season with four titles including the US Open.