© Getty Images Sport – Matthew Stockman
Former British No 1 Tim Henman believes there is no chance Emma Raducanu’s 2021 US Open run was a fluke as he is backing the 20-year-old to add more major success to her name before retiring. In 2021, Raducanu wrote tennis history when she became the first-ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam.
That year at Flushing Meadows, Raducanu was just 18 and competing in her second-ever Grand Slam tournament. Since then, Raducanu hasn’t had any notable Grand Slam results. After struggling with injuries and poor results for quite some time, Raducanu had surgeries on both wrists and her right ankle in May.
Henman was asked by Sky Sports if he can envision Raducanu winning another Grand Slam in the future. “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,” Henman told Sky Sports.
Henman on Raducanu’s 2021 US Open
Raducanu had three outstanding weeks at Flushing Meadows in 2021 as she clinched 10 straight-set wins en route to winning the title as an 18-year-old qualifier. Raducanu was able to do something that had never been seen before and her US Open win will forever be remembered as one of the most interesting triumphs in tennis history.
At the time, Raducanu was working with coach Andrew Richardson, whom she later stunningly ditched after her US Open win. “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.
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,” Henman told Sky Sports.
