Tim Henman, Billie Jean King and Laura Robson all hope Emma Raducanu can come back fitter and stronger with the Brit battling back from surgery and a number of coaching changes; Head to the Sky Sports website and app, for live scores, reports, analysis and features
Sunday 29 October 2023 15:23, UK
Can any coach keep up with Emma Raducanu's questions? Former British No 1 Tim Henman believes it's all "horses for courses" while also saying her miraculous US Open win in 2021 was "no fluke" and she can do it again.
The 20-year-old hopes to return to competitive action in time for the start of the new tennis season having undergone surgery on both wrists and her ankle after successive injury setbacks.
Raducanu, who has slipped to 283 in the world rankings from a career-high No 10, has not confirmed who will coach her when she returns to the tour having gone through five different coaches in just over two years.
The former British No 1 has said her inquisitiveness could have been an issue for some of them, recently saying: "I haven't been able to keep up with the questions I've asked."
Speaking before the start of this year's US Open, Henman told Sky Sports: "It's horses for courses. It's unusual. But you could say that it's worked for her. For me, I was on the tour for 15 years and I worked with three coaches so I liked that consistency and continuity. Having said that, it'll be interesting to see what she does because she will need a tennis coach when she resumes.
"In tennis it's not so unusual to change [coaches]. Sometimes you share coaches and there are different ways of doing it.
"I'm not sure where Emma's at right now in terms of her rehab, how much time she's able to spend on court. The tennis side of things is one of the important elements but probably you could argue right now that the rehab and the physical conditioning is probably the most important element. So fingers crossed she can get all three right and be back out there soon."
Henman, who was courtside during many of Raducanu's matches on her incredible run at Flushing Meadows two years ago, is hopeful the Bromley ace can overcome her injury problems and rediscover the form which saw her make history as a relatively unknown teenager.
"It's always frustrating as a professional athlete if you are injured, but I think she's hopefully using this time wisely so she can really build a good foundation so that when she comes back, she's really fit and healthy and ready to compete because for me that's almost the harder bit because her tennis level is just so good.
"She's such a great player and fingers crossed we can see her back soon," he said.
"Everybody's journey is a bit different. That physical side of being a professional athlete, competing week in, week out, some people struggle with more than others. Hopefully, Raducanu can really build that. Then she'll be able to do herself justice on the court."
Henman, a six-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, was happy to reminisce when discussing Raducanu's run in New York, calling her run to the women's singles title, "special".
"It was fantastic. I enjoyed it so much. I think when you look at that run for Raducanu in the context of professional tennis, no man or woman has ever qualified and made the final of a Grand Slam and she qualified and won the whole thing, winning 20 consecutive sets, it was incredible," Henman said.
"She was obviously working with Andrew Richardson at the time who was best man at my wedding so he was someone that I'd known a long, long time. We used to play against each other in the juniors and getting to know Emma then, it was a fortnight that I look back so fondly on, lucky enough to be working in television there and was courtside for most of her matches. It was special.
"She'll be sorely missed this year but hopefully she can be back fit and healthy and competing in the biggest events in the not too distant future."
Asked whether Raducanu can win another Grand Slam in the future, he added: "I hope so. Anyone who can do what she did in New York is a phenomenal player. You can't fluke that type of thing. So I certainly see her winning big tournaments in the future."
Pioneer and tennis legend Billie Jean King also wants a healthy and fit Raducanu back on the WTA Tour.
"She's a great person," said King. "She's interested in the world around her, she can speak more than one language.
"She's somebody who I think is interesting as a human being. I'm interested in her next chapter and I want her to be really healthy so she can play tennis, because I know she loves to play. We'll see how that goes.
"You've got to be healthy. If you're not, you shouldn't play, so I think they've done the right thing this year [with Raducanu].
Laura Robson, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2014, said: "Everyone thinks she's got the level to do it. And I I just think the more time you give her, almost the easier it's going to be because there's no expectation, no pressure.
"She's still so young. But just to see that it can happen very quick is sometimes quite nice as well."
