Tim Henman makes telling Emma Raducanu claim as she prepares to return to action
Former British No 1 Tim Henman has insisted Emma Raducanu is ‘a much better player’ than she was when she won the US Open title almost four years ago.
Raducanu’s breakthrough win in New York catapulted her to international superstardom, but she has predictably struggled to back up that success in the four years since.
Yet Henman suggests the 22-year-old Brit will be heading back into action next week in Washington with renewed hope and belief, after some impressive performances on grass courts in recent weeks.
After reaching the quarter-finals at the new WTA 500 tournament at the Queen’s Club, Raducanu pushed world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round at Wimbledon and Henman believes she is now maturing into a player ready to compete at the top of the women’s game.
“She’s a much better player than she was in 2021 because she’s had four more years of experience and now she’s started to build more of a team around her,” Henman told Sky Sports News.
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“She’s been competing so much more this year, which therefore emphasises the physical resilience that she’s got because she was always getting injuries.
”So I just hope she can continue in that vein because if she keeps doing the right things on the practice court, the results will come on the match because she’s that good a player. And I think it was great to see her on the biggest stage in our sport against the number one player in the world.
“She had a really good chance to win that match and I’m sure that will motivate her now moving onto the hardcourt swing in America to keep building.”
Henman also admitted Britain’s Jack Draper has a huge task on his hands to compete with for Grand Slam titles, with new Wimbledon champion Jannik Sinner and his big rival Carlos Alcaraz winning all seven of the last major titles between them.
Draper crashed out of Wimbledon early after a second round defeat against Marin Cilic, with Henman impressed by the consistency of the top two in the men’s game.
“I don’t think anyone can deny that those two, Alcaraz and Sinner, have certainly separated the way that they’ve dominated the Grand Slams in the last 18 months to two years,” added Henman.
“But Jack has made unbelievable strides this year and has been top five in the world. He didn’t have the best Wimbledon, but I think that’s a steep learning curve to be playing at home.
“He’s played so well on clay and hard courts and I think he needs to adapt his game a little bit on grass. And the reality is, you don’t get long to play on grass.
“There are only three weeks between the French Open and Wimbledon and then Wimbledon itself. But he’s got a great team around him. He would have taken many learnings away from the Championships this year and I’m sure in 12 months’ time he’ll be a better player and better prepared.”
Raducanu is set to return to action in a WTA 500 tournament in Washington next week, with Draper’s next match coming a week later at the ATP Masters 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto that gets underway in the last week of July.
“I think what they’ve done in such a short period of time is absolutely incredible,” said Henman. “And I think there were understandable concerns about who the next generation was going to be in the men’s because of what [Roger] Federer, [Rafael] Nadal and [Novak] Djokovic had done. They won 66 Grand Slams between them.
“I think at times they’ve almost raised the bar unfairly high. However, Alcaraz has now won five and Sinners won four, and in the grand scheme of the great champions of our sport, you look at [Stefan] Edberg, [Boris] Becker and [John] McEnroe and [Jimmy] Connors and [Andre] Agassi, they won six, seven and eight and they are absolute legends of the sport.
“All of a sudden, we’re asking the question, ‘Well, is Alcaraz going to get to 15 and 20?’ I mean, it’s mad, but they are phenomenal players. I think they benefit from each other because that rivalry will continue to motivate them and push each other to keep improving their games. And it’s other players’ jobs to try and get into that conversation.”
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