WTA Return confirmed: Emma Raducanu granted wildcard for Internationaux de Strasbourg, set to compete first time in two months

After over two months away from the court, Emma Raducanu is set to finally return to action while in the process making her first forage on clay in 2026. She has been granted a wildcard for the Internationaux de Strasbourg which takes place from May 17-23, just a week before Roland Garros.

It is the perfect chance for the British number one to get some tennis under her belt ahead of the second Grand Slam of the year. So far, 2026 has been a rather turbulent one for Raducanu. From injury to illness to more coach talk, she has been in the headlines regularly but not often around her tennis.

She will now hope to get people speaking positively around her tennis on her return to Strasbourg. She featured as a wildcard last year, overcoming former top 20 talent Daria Kasatkina before losing out to Danielle Collins in the quarter-final.

The WTA 500 tournament is set to feature some well-known names in its ranks. This includes Madrid Open champion Marta Kostyuk who skipped the Rome Open. While Ekaterina Alexandrova is the number one seed, Victoria Mboko is the highest ranked player thanks to her wildcard. They are closely followed by American duo Iva Jovic and Madison Keys. The likes of Clara Tauson, Liudmila Samsonova, Leylah Fernandez, Marie Bouzkova, Emma Navarro and Hailey Baptiste will all prove to be tough competition for Raducanu who may have a tricky path enroute to the latter stages of the tournament, if she is able to make it that far.

It feels like Raducanu's 2026 campaign really starts here. There is hope that the lingering virus has gone, and now reuniting with Andrew Richardson who guided her to that US Open triumph. It is still the only WTA title Raducanu has won, but she did come close.

Her voyage Down Under was blighted by injuries when competing in the United Cup before losing in the Hobart International quarter-final, as the top seed, against Taylah Preston who was ranked outside the world top 200. Anastasia Potapova ended Raducanu's Australian Open at the second round.

She would then make a first WTA final since the US Open in 2021 at the Transylvania Open. Dropping just one set to the final, she was dismantled by home favourite Sorana Cirstea. Back-to-back opening match defeats in the two WTA 1000 events in the Middle East were hindered with illness the 23-year-old had picked up. She got back to winning ways at Indian Wells against Anastasia Zakharova before winning just two games against Amanda Anisimova.

That was the last time she was seen in action. Skipping the quarter-final defence at the Miami Open, she also pulled out of the tournaments in Linz and Madrid. It seemed a certainty that Raducanu would compete in the ongoing Rome Open after speaking positively about her condition to the media, but the surprise withdrawal announcement soon followed.

Strasbourg will now host Raducanu's return to action. In a damaging period for British tennis with Jack Draper plummeting on the men's side due to injuries, Raducanu will hope to get the fans back on board with a deep run not just in the east of France, but in the capital. Roland Garros commences a day after the final on May 24. Raducanu has only competed at the major event twice, losing in the second round in both 2022 and 2025.