Four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Tim Henman has revealed what struck him about watching Emma Raducanu before her incredible run in the main draw of the 2021 US Open.
What Raducanu achieved at last year's US Open will forever be one of the biggest surprises in tennis history. Because of her ranking, she entered the year's final Grand Slam in the qualifying stage.
Raducanu stunned the tennis world by winning the title at Flushing Meadows without dropping a set in the qualifying or the main draw. The historic moment was sealed by overcoming Leylah Fernandez in the final.
A positive effect of Raducanu's triumph was some of the broadcasting revenue being given to a girls-only program with the Lawn Tennis Association to support future players in Great Britain.
2022 has been a difficult year for Raducanu, who has struggled for consistency since winning the US Open. She hired Dimitriy Tursunov after Wimbledon, but he left earlier this month and now works with Belinda Bencic.
Speaking on Amazon Prime Video Sport, Henman recounted being extremely impressed with the intensity of Raducanu's practice during the period when she had progressed through the qualifying at last year's US Open and was preparing for the first round of the main draw.
"Between qualifying and her first match, I saw Emma practice with Andrew on the court. I was interested to see how Andrew was getting on and what sort of drills they were doing. I think the one thing that really struck me about both of them was the intensity."
"This was really quality practice. There was no messing around and Andrew was very specific on the drills that he felt that Emma should be doing. And Emma was obviously buying into that so there was an intensity for someone so young and inexperienced, that was very impressive."
Raducanu is still just 19 years old and has much time to become even better than the level Henman saw during that practice session.