Emma Raducanu’s ‘realistic’ WTA Rankings target for 2025 identified by Tim Henman
Emma Raducanu needs to improve one key area if she is to continue her climb up the WTA Rankings in 2025, according to Tim Henman.
Following her injury-enforced layoff during the second half of last season, Raducanu found herself at No 301 in the rankings when she made her comeback at the start of 2024.
There were a lot of encouraging signs for the 2021 US Open winner as she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, the semi-final of the Nottingham Open as well as a couple of quarter-finals.
Having returned to the top 100 after Wimbledon, Raducanu finished the year at No 58.
But the 22-year-old will also be the first to admit that was another stop-start affair as she played only 13 WTA Tour events as she was forced to miss several tournaments due to injury, most notably the bulk of the Asia swing after suffering a foot injury at the Korea Open.
Former British No 1 Henman believes she needs to “build up resilience” if she wants to achieve a higher ranking come next year.
Raducanu peaked at No 10 in the WTA Rankings in July 2022 and Henman feels top 30 is a “realistic” goal for 2025.
“I think the challenge for Raducanu is around physical resilience,” the former world No 4 said on the Sky Sports Tennis podcast.
“You talk about Katie Boulter and all the improvements that she made. Yes, she has got better as a tennis player, her movement has improved, but it’s also the resilience to be able to play that full schedule.
“You saw Katie at the end of the year playing four or five tournaments in a row. She made a final in Hong Kong, at the last event of the year and finished in the top 25.
“Raducanu has had a decent year going from sort of 300 into the top 60 but, when you look at the amount of tennis she’s played, she hasn’t played a great deal. If she builds up that resilience, every time she steps on the court, she was playing good tennis.
“Therefore, top 50, top 30 in 2025, I think is completely realistic.”
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Raducanu, who finished with a 23-13 record this year, admitted recently that one of her big goals for next year is to “stay on court longer”.
“I think I started the year off pretty well for the first half, you know, up to Wimbledon. Then I struggled a little bit more with my body I think physically. Wasn’t able to play the full calendar and stay on court as much as I would have liked,” she admitted.
“But my assessment is, you know, I think sometimes I need reminding, I’m top 60 in the world and I have played less than 15 events, which is pretty unheard of, in a way.
“I have to pat myself on the back for that. I know I’m a dangerous player. I know no one wants to pull my name in the draw. I take pride in that, and I’m looking forward to hopefully staying on court longer next year.”
