Emma Raducanu: British No. 1 suffers first-round loss in Strasbourg after two-month hiatus

Emma Raducanu returned to action after more than two months away from the WTA Tour, suffering a narrow first-round defeat in Strasbourg.

Britain’s number one Recovery from post-viral disease And she hasn’t played since losing to Amanda Anisimova in the third round in Indian Wells in March.

It is given a wildcard. At the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg, her comeback did not go to plan as she fell to French home hopeful Diane Parry 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

It means Raducanu has played one match on clay before the start of the French Open – the second Grand Slam event of the year – on Sunday.

After a 10-week hiatus from the tour, Raducanu has dropped from 23rd to 37th in the world rankings and will not be seeded at Roland Garros.

Playing her first match since Meeting with coach Andrew Richardson – a teenager who helped her to a US Open title in qualifying – Raducanu got off to a strong start in France, spraying fierce backhand winners down the line and moving well around the court to take a 4-2 lead.

But double faults began to creep into her game and Radukan put her back in before Parry took charge to wrap up the opener.

After Parry saved five break points to stop an early drag in the second set, Raducanu briefly found her rhythm to strike first – only to see the world number 94 bounce back immediately.

The French broke again to make it 5-4, but Raducanu held firm to deny Parry on two occasions and force a break.

Frustrated after hitting the ball into the stands, Parry regained her composure to eventually seal victory after two hours and 26 minutes.

While the injury will limit Raducanu’s French Open preparations, there are positives for the Briton to take away as she heads to Paris.

Richardson looked relaxed as he dished out instructions and encouragement from the player’s box, defending 16 break points and showing tenacity to make parry difficult throughout.

Parry defeated Spain’s Cristina Buxa 2-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-5 and will meet China’s Zhang Shuai in the second round.