Emma Raducanu needs ‘one to two more years’ to fulfil huge potential
Anke Huber thinks Emma Raducanu is just “one to two years” away from cementing herself as a “top five or World number one player” and reaching her best level.
British prodigy Raducanu made history last year with her US Open victory as she became the first ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. As a result, she has risen to as high as 13th in the women’s World rankings.
However, she has only managed to win back-to-back matches on just one occasion since her Flushing Meadows success.
This comes as she struggled for form towards the end of last season and has been impacted by numerous injuries at the start of the new season. Although this may have been expected as she competes in her first year on the WTA Tour.
As such, the 19-year-old has been criticised for her poor form as well as signing various lucrative brand deals with world renowned companies.
However, Raducanu labelled accusations that she cares more about her brand partnerships than her tennis “misleading” and “unfair.”
With the hard-court season now finished, Raducanu will turn her attention to her first ever professional clay-court season.
When asked about how the WTA Tour may shape up in the coming years, Huber said “in the next year and a half, four or five players will emerge who will hopefully work it out among themselves, play the finals against each other and thus ensure that we get real top matches again.
“At the moment everything is very close together, so it’s difficult to name one. For me, Emma Raducanu is someone who can play up front in the future.
“She has everything to be a top five five player and maybe even make it to [World] number one. Emma needs another year or two to become consistent and really show what she can do.
“Iga Swiatek will also have a say. She is ambitious, has a good grip and is already very far for her age in terms of tactical play and appearance on the pitch.
“As the permanent number one, I would not want to commit myself to [any of] them at the moment.”
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