Britain’s French Open hopefuls as Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu miss out
The two biggest stars in British tennis will both miss the tournament at Roland Garros
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Your support makes all the difference.Cameron Norrie leads four British players in the French Open singles draws.
Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal after undergoing a trio of operations means no British women will be direct entrants.
Andy Murray is also missing after choosing to prioritise preparation for the grass-court season.
Here is a look at the remaining British hopefuls.
Cameron Norrie
The British number one’s form has tailed off after a spectacular start to the season, which included victories over Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz - the latter bringing him his second biggest title at the ATP Tour event in Rio.
Norrie’s heavy, spinning forehand and athletic prowess make him well suited to clay and his position in the top 16 keeps him away from the big guns through the early rounds.
A place in the second week will be his target.
A committed ‘clayphobe’ for most of his career, Evans has found his feet on the red stuff over the last couple of seasons and finally won his first match at Roland Garros last year.
After a difficult spell post Australian Open when he lost five straight matches, clay has seen the 33-year-old hit form, with runs to the semi-finals of ATP events in Marrakech and Barcelona keeping him in the top 25.
There have been more glimpses this season of what a phenomenal player the 21-year-old left-hander could be, including victories over Murray and Evans in Indian Wells.
But frustratingly he has again been restricted by physical problems, the latest an abdominal injury that dogged him for two months.
Like his good friend Raducanu, the most important priority for Draper, who will be making his Roland Garros debut, is ensuring his body is not his most difficult opponent.
The road back from a long-term knee injury that required three operations has been slow for Edmund, who is ranked down at 445.
A protected ranking of 48 has allowed him to enter the French Open for the first time since 2019 and he will hope for a more favourable draw than in recent major tournaments.
The former world number 14 is yet to win a tour level match this year but he has had some success at lower levels and, at 28, still has time on his side if his knee allows.
PA
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