Emma Raducanu gets some candid encouragement from a former British No 1
Former British No 1 Dan Evans believes Emma Raducanu needs to take confidence from her impressive performance against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon, as he backed the Brit to shine on hard courts leading into the US Open.
Raducanu was involved in one of the stand-out matches of the women’s draw at Wimbledon, with an electrifying Friday night audience on Centre Court lapping up a thrilling that eventually saw Sabalenka prevail with a 7-6(6), 6-4 win.
Raducanu’s third round exit at Wimbledon ensured she will drop down to No 3 in the British rankings, with her former junior rival Sonay Kartal leaping above her on Monday for the first time, but Evans believes her mentality should not change after the Sabalenka match.
Recent matches against the top ranked players have been painful experiences for Raducanu, but Evans suggests her levels of belief will now change.
“Emma should definitely take a lot from the Sabalenka match,” Evans told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.
“It was great to see her out there fighting the way she did and I thought she was the better player for long periods of that match against Sabalenka, who is the world No 1.
“I’m interested to see what comes next for Emma. She is already back on the court working ahrd and I’m thinking the summer in America is going to be good for her.
“We always need to manage expectations a little around Emma, but let’s leave her alone, let her enjoy playing tennis and she has a decent chance to do well heading into the US Open.”
Raducanu may be looking for another new coach after Mark Petchey confirmed their temporary arrangement may now have concluded, with Evans suggesting he may be interested in a new role working with players when his own playing career comes to an end.
“Coaching is something I would look at,” he added. “It depends on what opportunity came up and the idea of working with players and see that improvement might be interesting.
“When you are working on the other side of the fence as a coach, you might argue it gives you even more satisfaction to see a players improving.”
Evans is trying his hand at commentary for the first time this weekend as he joins the TNT Sports team ahead of their live broadcast of this weekend’s Wimbledon finals, before he jets off to America to play in US hardcourt events before trying to qualify for the US Open.
Life after tennis has not started yet for Evans, but he is exploring his options as he considers what comes next in his career.
Watch both singles’ finals from Wimbledon live on TNT Sports and its streaming platform discovery+ this weekend with Nick Kyrgios, CoCo Vandeweghe and Dan Evans offering their own insights and analysis during both matches. Coverage for the ladies’ and the gentlemen’s singles finals begins at 3:30pm.
