Tim Henman tells Emma Raducanu where she has ‘room for improvement’ and sets new goal | Tennis | Sport
Tim Henman believes that Emma Raducanu can break back into the world’s top-30 next season if she becomes more physically resilient. The 22-year-old made an impressive return from her latest injury lay-off at the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Spain this month, winning all three of her singles matches as Team GB made the semi-finals.
Her performances were made all the more impressive by the fact she was only rated 50/50 to make the tournament, after picking up a foot injury in the Korea Open in September.
The injury forced her to withdraw from the tournament, as well as three further scheduled events in China and Hong Kong.
The British star has been plagued by fitness issues ever since her incredible US Open win in September 2021. Last year, she underwent ankle and wrist surgeries, forcing her to miss the majority of the WTA season.
And now Henman believes that improving her conditioning is the key to the world No.58 being able to compete at the top level on a consistent basis. And he cited Katie Boulter, who has overtaken Raducanu as her country’s top ranked player, as an example the Bromley-based player should follow.
“I think the challenge for Raducanu is around physical resilience,” he told 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.”
Henman argued that Raducanu had enjoyed a productive 2024 season, reaching the last-16 at Wimbledon. But a back problem forced her to miss the French Open and she opted not to play in the 2024 Paris Olympics over fears of injury.
“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,” he continued. “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.”
Raducanu is yet to appear in a tournament final since her very own ‘Fairytale of New York’. She’s also gone through a string of coaches in the last three years, having opted to split with mentor Andrew Richards after her debut Slam win.
She currently appears settled with Nick Cavaday however, having previously worked with him as a teenager. The pair worked together before this year’s Australian Open after Raducanu parted ways with German coach Sebastian Sachs.
