Emma Raducanu beaten at Roland-Garros

Emma Raducanu’s French Open ended on May 24 with a first-round loss to Argentina’s Solana Sierra, who beat the 2021 U.S. Open champion 6-0, 7-6(4) on Court 13 in Paris. The official Roland-Garros match page listed the contest at 1 hour 45 minutes and showed Sierra closing it in straight sets. BBC Sport reported Raducanu had played only one clay-court match before arriving in Paris, a first-round loss in Strasbourg. ### How one-sided was the start in Paris? Roland-Garros live coverage showed Raducanu down 6-0, 4-1 during the match, underlining how quickly Sierra took control on opening day. The official tournament wrap later described Raducanu as another notable early exit and confirmed Sierra’s 6-0, 7-6(4) win on Court 13. (rolandgarros.com) The scoreline matters because Raducanu recovered enough in the second set to force a tiebreak after failing to win a game in the first. Sierra still held her nerve there, taking the breaker 7-4 to finish the upset in two sets. ### Who is Solana Sierra, the player who beat her? Solana Sierra arrived in Paris with momentum on clay and a rising ranking. (rolandgarros.com) Roland-Garros’ player page lists the 21-year-old Argentine at No. 68 in the WTA singles rankings, and the tournament’s 2025 profile of her described her as a player from Mar del Plata who had won back-to-back titles earlier in that season and built a reputation as a strong clay-court mover. (rolandgarros.com) Court 13 was also not unfamiliar ground for Sierra’s progress at Roland-Garros. The tournament’s coverage has tracked her as a player who came through qualifying in Paris in 2025 and has continued to build her main-draw résumé since then. Sunday’s result added a straight-sets win over a former Grand Slam champion to that record. (rolandgarros.com) ### Why was Raducanu under scrutiny on clay? BBC Sport reported before and during the loss that Raducanu’s clay preparation had been limited to one match in Strasbourg, where she lost in the first round. That left her with little match play on the surface heading into a tournament where movement, balance and point construction on clay often decide early rounds. (rolandgarros.com) Roland-Garros’ own Day 1 preview had flagged the matchup as awkward for Raducanu, describing Sierra as a young player in form and noting that Raducanu was still trying to settle after years of coaching changes since her U.S. Open title. That framing came before the match, and the result followed the same pattern the preview suggested: Sierra was the player arriving with more recent clay-court confidence. (rolandgarros.com) ### What does the result change for the tournament draw? The loss removes one of the better-known unseeded names from the women’s draw on the first day of main-draw action. Roland-Garros’ Day 1 wrap grouped Raducanu among the notable early departures as the tournament moved into its opening week in Paris. (rolandgarros.com) For Sierra, the immediate next step is the second round of the women’s singles draw. Roland-Garros has posted the completed first-round result on its official match page and continues to update the bracket and order of play for the next round in Paris. (rolandgarros.com 1) (rolandgarros.com 2)