Former top-10 Barbara Schett praises Raducanu’s decision to skip French Open for grass-swing

Barbara Schett advised Emma Raducanu after she withdrew from the French Open qualifiers. The former tennis player commented in Express Sport that Raducanu needs to play more matches to gain confidence and praised the young Brit for taking several weeks of training before the grass swing.

The 2021 US Open champion hoped to enter the main draw of Roland Garros but fell three spots short. Raducanu was set to play the tournament’s qualifiers but decided to skip Roland Garros to focus her energies on the grass swing, especially the upcoming Wimbledon.

According to Barbara Schett, it was a good decision for Raducanu to prioritize the grass swing: “I think because she didn’t get a wildcard for the main draw it would’ve made that decision a little bit easier for her,” Schett said. “She loves playing on grass. She always had interesting decisions. She has a different view on things a lot of the time but whatever works for her.”

“I think the grass court season is an important season for her. Obviously she’s going to play all the tournaments in Britain and Wimbledon is a highlight for her, that’s where she wants to play her best,” the former world No. 7 added. “And she always is a big believer that she gets her confidence in practice and she said yeah I want to do this long practice block now for three weeks and then be full of confidence.”

Raducanu has repeatedly highlighted that training blocks fill her with confidence, but Schett believes Raducanu should play more matches in tournaments, even if it means attending smaller events: “I think that sometimes it would be good for her, if you look at her schedule this year she played all the big events, she got wildcards. Maybe it’s good to play a little bit of a smaller event to get those matches in,” the Austrian added.

“Because practice is important, when you’re fit and everything it gives you a lot of confidence. But at the end of the day you need to play matches, that’s where you get confidence as well. It’s her decision, obviously she knows what’s best for her and her team and we’ll see how she goes on the grass,” Schett concluded.