Emma Raducanu warning fired by Tim Henman with US Open determination due
Just taking part in a full season’s tennis can be an achievement for Emma Raducanu subsequent season, because the anniversary of her gorgeous US Open triumph comes round as soon as extra. That’s in line with Tim Henman, who will return to Sky Sports as a pundit for the ultimate Grand Slam of the season when the New York occasion will get underway on August 28.
It’s virtually two years since an 18-year-old Raducanu shocked the world of tennis by turning into the primary qualifier to win the US Open on her first try.
But since then, a profession that must be blossoming has been dogged by detached kind and a rotten run of accidents as a string of coaches have come and gone.
Raducanu has endured two wrist surgical procedures and one other on her ankle over the summer season, leading to a four-month spell on the sidelines that has seen the Brit drop to 152 on the planet rankings.
She is more likely to be in attendance at Flushing Meadows later this month after considered one of her main sponsors, Tiffany, signed a brand new multi-million-pound deal to proceed supplying trophies for the US Open.
Her anticipated look in New York could solely be as a spectator on this event, however former Wimbledon favorite Henman has warned Raducanu and followers of the Brit that simply taking part in a full tour schedule subsequent 12 months might be an achievement in itself for the 20-year-old as he tempered expectations.
Speaking to the i, Henmand mentioned: “If she plays 22, 23 tournaments next year, that would be a great achievement, because the only way you’re going to do that is if you’re fit and healthy.
“If she’s fit and healthy, the results will come. She’s that good a player. She’s too good not to win matches.”
Raducanu’s exceptional US Open victory in 2021 got here with out dropping a single set within the match, the place she ultimately defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 within the remaining.
But 12 months later the defence of her title did not get previous the primary spherical because the eleventh seed was brutally dispatched by France’s Alize Cornet in straight units. Having been ranked as excessive as No 10 final July, Raducanu now faces her hardest take a look at but, simply to get again to taking part in elite tennis.
It is hoped that she is going to return sooner or later in October, however Henman believes that the prospect to undertake prolonged intervals of bodily coaching provides the Toronto-born star a singular alternative forward of her return.
Henman mentioned: “No one as a professional athlete likes to be injured or wants to be injured. “Having said that, I think this has been and will be a great opportunity to really build a foundation, and it’s really around physical resilience.
“She hasn’t had the opportunity to do the big, extended periods of physical training. Tennis ability is never going to be an issue but because of her journey, just being so unexpected coming out of Covid and playing at Wimbledon, with no real physical foundation, and then doing what she did in New York, she’s always been playing catch up.
“And so now having had the surgeries, which I believe have been a success, she can really put in the hard yards to build up that physicality for her then to be able to let her tennis do the talking.”
Painting a upbeat outlook for Raducanu, Henman added: “If she may be match and wholesome, she’ll get again within the high 100 comfortably and he or she’ll get again within the high 50. And who is aware of from there?
“So I’m very positive and optimistic. She’s such a great player that everybody would love to see Emma at the US Open, but she’s gonna have so many opportunities ahead of her. She and we just need to be a little bit patient.”