2026-01-31 10:30:16

Tim Henman has called for Emma Raducanu to keep improving physically.

The British tennis star has suffered with injuries since her sensational US Open win in 2021 and Henman feels that she needs “continuous play” to get her fitness on a par with the leading players in the women’s game.

The former Wimbledon semi-finalist told TNT Sports: “At the end of last year, she struggled with some injuries and had an issue with her foot.

“Coming into the United Cup that I was a part of as captain, she was still building up her fitness and she played a match there.

“To get a couple of matches in Hobart and here, I never think her tennis level is in doubt.

“It’s much more about the physical resilience and being able to compete week in, week out with the best players in the world, and to get fitter, stronger, faster, so she can compete against the bigger hitters.

“For me, if I could add one element to her game, it wouldn’t be technical or mental, it would be physical.

“When she has time off and has some practice she is in good shape, but it’s not just about a week or two weeks, it’s about six, seven months of continuous play to build up momentum on the match court.

“That’s hopefully what she can build up to because you reflect on her ranking at No. 29 and I still think she is scratching the surface. If she can build that consistency and continuity, then for sure she can be in the top 20 in the future.”

Raducanu declared that she would “re-evaluate” her game after falling to a disappointing defeat in the second round of the Australian Open to Anastasia Potapova and has subsequently split from her coach Francisco Roig.

She said: “I think I’m going to take a few days, get back home and try and just re-evaluate my game a bit.

“I want to be playing a different way, and I think the misalignment with how I’m playing right now and I want to be playing is something that I just want to work on.

“At the end of the day, I just want to hit the ball to the corners and hard. I feel like I’m doing all this variety, and it’s not doing what I want it to do. I need to just work on playing in a way more similar to how I was playing when I was younger.”

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