French Open 2026 results: Emma Raducanu beaten by Solana Sierra in first round
Emma Raducanu’s French Open campaign came to an early end when she suffered a frustrating defeat to Argentinian Solana Sierra in the first round.
Having failed to win a single game in the dismal first set, which lasted only 25 minutes, the British number one fought back against a double break to break the tie in the second set.
But world number 68 Sierra failed to see a comeback as she regrouped and won 6-0 7-6 (7-4).
Raducanu’s 2026 season was interrupted by a viral illness that kept her off the WTA Tour for more than two months after Indian Wells in March.
His progress at the French Open was far from ideal; due to his first round defeat at the Strasbourg Open, his only match on clay, earlier this week.
And Raducanu’s unfamiliarity with red clay became evident when Sierra, who grew up playing on clay, broke serve in the opening match.
Things got worse from then on for the Briton, who made 15 unforced errors to reach zero winners, as Sierra went for the ‘bagel’ in the first set and was broken twice more.
Mahzun Raducanu took a break outside the court before returning to the second set, and although she managed to get an early game on the board, things continued to go well for Sierra, who put a series of flourishing forehand winners behind to take a 4-1 lead.
A break gave Raducanu a glimmer of hope and belief slowly began to spread when Sierra served for the match to tie the set at 5-5.
Sierra immediately broke back but once again failed to serve out the winner as a resurgent Raducanu forced a tiebreaker.
However, after being down 5-1 in the tiebreak, Raducanu’s resistance was broken and Sierra secured the victory after one hour and 45 minutes.
Raducanu has been adversely affected by illness and injuries in recent years and has only advanced beyond the third round of a major once since his US Open win in 2021.
His focus will now be on the British grass-court season as he continues to work with coach Andrew Richardson, who helped him win the Flushing Meadows junior title in 2021 and was rehired by Raducanu earlier this month.
Sierra will face Italian 13th seed Jasmine Paolini or Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in the second round.
