Emma Raducanu is currently away from tennis and former player Tim Henman believes it's a great time to sort the coaching situation.
Raducanu's carer has been quite interesting so far with a ridiculous meteoric rise and slow decline in the last year. The Brit struggled with many injuries since starting to play regular tennis on the WTA Tour, injuries that resulted in her undergoing triple surgery earlier this year to address them.
Raducanu is currently away from the sport as she recovers from the surgeries with the return date unknown. It's likely that it will happen sometime in the final quarter of 2023 which would be beneficial for her in order to prepare her body for next year. Henman has a simple way of going about the return. If she's healthy and ready she could play but not anytime sooner as he revealed to Metro.
It’s related to if she is healthy. ‘If she’s healthy, has done all the rehabilitation and fitness work and she is ready to play, then play. ‘If she’s not, then don’t play. It’s going to be dictated by her body. She’s got to be 100 per cent fit.
Besides nursing herself to peak physical condition, Raducanu should use this time to figure some other important stuff out. According to Henman, it's time to finally figure out the coaching situation after her previous choices left many more than a few confused.
‘From Emma’s point of view, she’s had these three surgeries, she’s going to be out of the game for some time. It’s a really good opportunity for her to get that structure right. ‘That includes a tennis coach, a physio and a fitness trainer. Hopefully that’s something she will implement so when she is ready to come back and work on her game he’s got a good team around her.
Having all of that sorted before her return certainly makes sense as 2024 could become a major make-or-break year for the Brit. Many have already written her off as a one-hit wonder.