Twenty minutes into her time at the 2026 French Open, Emma Raducanu already appeared to be on her way out. Trailing 0-4, 30-40 on her serve, the games falling from her at warp speed, this was the moment for Raducanu to fight, to claw her way back into the first set, at least try to keep herself in contention. She responded by shanking a backhand, which flew high into the sky before bouncing far out.
This point epitomised a miserable day on court for Emma Raducanu, whose last-ditch fight was not enough to turn the match around as she lost 6-0, 7-6 (4) at Roland Garros, beaten by the unseeded Argentinian, Solana Sierra.
At the same time that Raducanu endured a miserable day on court 13, 20 metres away on court 14, her close friend Fran Jones engineered one of the most meaningful wins of her career.
Despite trailing 1-6, 0-2 against Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jones offered an unforgettable demonstration of her supreme fighting spirit as she fought back to close out her first grand slam main-draw win with a stellar 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory against the Brazilian.
Expectations were already low for Raducanu before the tournament due to her poor preparation. Her first-round loss in Strasbourg a few days earlier marked her first match in over two months after being sidelined due to post-viral illness. Considering her frailty, the oppressive heatwave that overwhelmed the city, with temperatures scaling 30C for most of the day, only lessened her chances of victory.
Sierra is a solid young player who arrived in Paris after enjoying a decent clay-court season that catapulted her to a new ranking high of No 62. The 21-year-old showed her confidence from the beginning, pulverising Raducanu’s weak second serve and punishing her poor depth by forcing herself inside the baseline.
Across the net, though, she faced absolutely no pressure from her opponent. After starting the match passively, Raducanu tried to step inside the baseline and take the initiative but errors flowed freely from her racket. She was deficient in almost every part of her game; her ground strokes were impotent and erratic, her movement laboured and her serve weak.
By the time it was 0-6, 1-4, things were looking dire. To her credit, the 23-year-old dug in and fought well, eventually clawing her way back to 5-5. Much like her loss to Diane Parry in Strasbourg, where she similarly fought hard towards the end of the second set, Raducanu was let down by poor serving in the decisive moments, allowing Sierra to regain her composure and slam the door shut in the tie-break.
Meanwhile, Jones’s victory signifies a positive step after enduring so many setbacks on the biggest stages of the sport. The 25-year-old had failed to win any of her six grand slam main-draw matches, her most recent defeat a retirement in the Australian Open.
This has been a bruising year for so many reasons. In addition to the physical challenges that come with her condition, Ectrodactyly Ectodermal Dysplasia, Jones started the year by suffering a bad fall in Melbourne and struggling with injury. Then she suffered a concussion due to a freak accident while training in a gym.
Jones, who considers clay her favourite surface, is in the French Open main draw for the first time in her career. It is a reflection of her unquenchable fight and mindset that she has finally found her way into the second round.
