Jack Draper is hoping for an injury-free 2024. Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
How far can Emma Raducanu's return take her? According to her old friend and almost exact contemporary Jack Draper, Raducanu is too good to be written off as a one-hit wonder. Instead, Draper suggests she will soon be in danger of winning major titles again.
Draper, who was born 11 months before Raducanu, who turns 22 next week, grew up playing alongside her in junior tournaments such as The Orange Bowl and the Eddie Herr Invitational, both of which are held in Florida, the international tennis mecca.
However, this winter they both returned to the less exotic climes of Roehampton, south-west London, home of the National Tennis Centre. Draper is struggling with the usual physical jolts that come with an offseason training block, while Raducanu is preparing for full-on hitting training after undergoing double wrist surgery in May. She spent a couple of hours sparring with UK number two Harriet Dart on Thursday and looked well prepared to recover.
Progress was initially slow, causing Raducanu to miss her first comeback date on December 2 for a showcase event in Macau. But she has entered the Australian Open, which starts on January 14, as well as the same tournament she played in Auckland last year.
Asked whether Raducanu could succeed in 2024, Draper replied: “Yes, obviously. When she's in good form, she's an incredible player. I think she struggled with injuries for a long time. I think people forget that before the US Open she was still in school. She didn't have much training. Obviously, she has been a huge success and has achieved what people dream of achieving in their entire career. And then I think it's kind of a mistake to expect so much from her after that because she probably doesn't have the fitness and tour experience and all those things that all the other players have.
“But I think her talent and also the maturity to do what she did at the US Open is off the charts,” Draper added. “I think if she can get to a good level of fitness where she builds up that resilience over months and years and continues to work on her game, she will be up there with the best in the world and compete. back to the Grand Slam tournaments. This is just one of those cases where from a fitness standpoint it's not a quick fix, it takes a long time.”
Emma Raducanu stunned the world with her fairytale victory at the 2021 US Open, but injuries have hit hard since then. Photo: Elisa Amendola/AP
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