British rising star Jack Draper is backing Emma Raducanu to rediscover her Grand Slam-winning form when she returns to the WTA tour next month.
Raducanu made history at the 2021 US Open when she became the first qualifier to win a major title without dropping a set in all ten matches in New York. That success, sadly, has proved to be a flash in the pan thus far, as the Toronto-born Briton struggled for consistency and with injuries.
This year, Raducanu played just three and a half months on tour before her season was curtailed by wrist and ankle injuries. After undergoing three surgeries, she is back on the practice courts, gearing up to return at next month's ASB Classic in Auckland.
Draper, who has dealt with his fair share of injury troubles in his young career, knows of Raducanu's vast talent potential, having grown up with her in the juniors.
The man from Sutton, who turns 22 in a few days, stated that Raducanu lacked the physical foundation, but if she can work on building that base, she will be back competing for top honors again.
"Obviously, when she’s fit, she’s an incredible player. She’s been struggling with injuries for a long time. I think people forget that before the US Open she was still in school. She didn’t have a lot of training. Obviously, she had that huge run and achieved what people dream of achieving in their whole career."
"And then I think to expect so much of her after that is a bit of a mistake because she hasn’t maybe got a lot of that physical foundation and the experience of playing on the tour and all those things that all those other players have.
"I think if she can get herself to being at a good fitness level where she’s built up that resilience over months and years and keeps working on her game, she’ll be right up there with the best in the world and she’ll be competing for grand slams again."
Draper is also looking at his own ambitions for next season, in which he is targeting a Top 20 breakthrough. Having recovered from a spate of injuries that limited him to just five tournaments in the first half of last season, he is backing Raducanu to put herself in Grand Slam contention within a couple of years at most.
"She’s motivated to want to come back. I don’t know how she’s going to get on but I know that, at some point next year, the year after that, she’s going to be back to being in those finals and those big positions because she’s got everything it takes. It’s just a matter of when"
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