Emma Raducanu ‘hits the ball just as well as any of the top players on tour’

WTA Tour

James Richardson
April 6, 2023

Tennis pundit and former British No 1 Laura Robson has backed Emma Raducanu to have a productive clay swing.

Robson believes that Raducanu has the game to get results in the lead up to the French Open.

Injuries and illness have hampered Raducanu’s progress this season but she has raised her game noticeably when compared to last season.

Robson feels that Raducanu has the potential to return to the top of the game.

“Emma’s level is there for sure,” Robson told Eurosport.

“She hits the ball just as well as any of the top players on tour.

“But it’s just finding the right balance on the training side of things, on the match court and tournament schedule side of things to make it work for the body because everyone is different, everyone requires different amount of matches as well.

“I think if she’s just able to get another couple of consistent weeks under her belt, then the belief will come and you start to trust your body a bit more and you start to then not worry about some small injuries because it’s just part of being a tennis player.

“I can’t think of anyone on tour who ever feels 100% healthy all the time, so Emma’s just seeming to find that balance at the moment.

“She’s been on a practice court in the UK at Wimbledon and looks good, she looks really good.”

Robson believes that the WTA 1000 Madrid Open presents itself as perhaps Raducanu’s best chance at a deep run on clay.

“I actually think she’s pretty good on clay anyway,” she added. “Last year she went into the season thinking ‘it’s just going to be a bit of a learning experience for me’.

“You could tell that she was trying new things on the clay court, trying to add a little bit more spin to her forehand side.

“But she played well in Madrid, she won a couple of matches there, she had some good result and you feel like maybe that’s the kind of court that’s going to suit her game the most.

“Something that’s a little bit faster and takes on the pace slightly more than the heavy conditions that you can get in Rome and in some of the lead up tournaments to Paris.

“I think with the way that she hits the ball, she can almost hit through the conditions if needed. It just has to keep going after her shots, which I know she’s been working on at the moment.”

Raducanu is set to return to WTA Tour action at the Stuttgart Open which gets underway on 17 April.

Emma Raducanu