Emma Raducanu can take ‘plenty of positives’ from clay declares former world number four
Former British number one Tim Henman believes Emma Raducanu has improved and grown as a player over the course of the clay, even without silverware success.
The 19-year-old lost in the second round of Roland Garros to world number 47 Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-3, 1-6, 1-6 after claiming her first victory in Paris.
Warner Bros. Discovery expert and 2004 Roland Garros semi-finalist Henman looked to the positives for Raducanu following what would have been a disappointing loss for the Brit.
The former world number four said of Raducanu’s loss: “Emma made a good start today but perhaps was not quite able to maintain the levels physically, Sasnovich deserves a lot of credit.
“When you reflect on the clay court season, Raducanu came in with few expectations and I think her game has evolved.
“Her tennis skills are enormous, she just needs to build more of a physical platform and that is not easy to do when you are in the middle of a tournament.”
Raducanu only made her professional clay court debut in April during a Billie Jean King Cup clash with Czechia in Prague.
Prior to that match, Raducanu had last played competitively on red clay nearly four years earlier at junior Roland Garros in 2018.
The Brit went on to win six matches from five events, including five wins from four tournaments at tour level, across the European clay this year.
Looking ahead, Henman believes the familiarity of the British grass will be a big help to Raducanu.
He continued: “Emma will take a lot of positives from the clay court season.
“She is coming back home to play on grass, a surface she is very familiar with and I am sure there will be a lot of good results to follow.”
Raducanu said herself after the loss to Sasnovich that she is just happy to come away from Paris uninjured.
She said: “For me that’s the biggest win.”
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