Former world No 4 Tim Henman has set Emma Raducanu a rankings target for 2026 as he gave his verdict on the Brit’s coaching collaboration with Francisco Roig.
Raducanu is currently ranked 29th in the world, which is her highest ranking position since she dropped the points from her 2021 US Open victory in September 2022. She reached a career-high ranking of world No 10 in July 2022.
The Brit is the No 28 seed at the 2026 Australian Open, and she began her campaign at Melbourne Park with a 6-4, 6-1 opening round victory against world No 197 Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
The 23-year-old’s pre-season was disrupted by bone bruising in her foot, and she fell in three sets to Maria Sakkari at the United Cup in her first match since October.
Raducanu then reached the quarter-finals at the Hobart International last week, where she defeated Camila Osorio in the first round and received a second round walkover before losing to Australian wildcard Taylah Preston.
What did Tim Henman say about Emma Raducanu?
Speaking to TNT Sports, Henman declared that there is “no question” about Raducanu’s tennis ability.
“When I think about Emma Raducanu and her progress from the end of last year into this year, she’s moving in the right direction, but she’s had this problem with her foot,” said the former British No 1.
“She just played one match at United Cup and I think performed well against Sakkari, but Sakkari played very, very well. To me, there’s no question about her tennis ability.”
Henman worked alongside Raducanu’s coach, Roig, in his role as Great Britain’s United Cup captain earlier this month.
The six-time major semi-finalist revealed he was impressed with Roig, who coached tennis icon Rafael Nadal for 18 years.
“I really cannot speak highly enough of him. He was great, fun to be around,” Henman said.
“I feel his knowledge and his input on the court, practice court, match court is really excellent. And I think they’re building a really good relationship.
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“So I would love for Emma and Francis to keep going. I think they’re making a lot of progress, building in all the right areas. And as I said, a lot of it is also in the gym to build that physical resilience.
“They finished the year [ranked] 29, but actually, when you look at a few of the matches, certainly at the end of the year against [Barbora] Krejcikova and against [Jessica] Pegula, she had match points, Emma, in both those matches.
“If she comes through those and wins a couple more, she easily could finish in the top 20. For 2026, for Emma to finish in the top 20 is a realistic goal.”
On Raducanu’s first round Australian Open victory, Henman added: “She had a difficult first round, didn’t get off to the best of starts, but then once she got going she ran away with it and, in the end, had a good first round victory.”
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What has Emma Raducanu said about her second round Australian Open opponent?
Raducanu will take on world No 55 Anastasia Potapova in the second round of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
She shared her thoughts on what will be her first meeting with the 24-year-old Russian-born Austrian.
“I remember watching Anastasia all through juniors. I was the year below her,” Raducanu said.
“She was always the player to watch and beat through juniors. She’s been very high ranked, as well, in the pros. A big hitter.
I know it’s going to be a really tricky one. I need to just gather my strength and prepare as best as possible.”
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