Emma Raducanu’s ‘realistic’ 2025 WTA Rankings target identified by Tim Henman

Emma Raducanu needs to improve in one key area if she wants to continue her rise up the WTA rankings in 2025, according to Tim Henman.

Following her injury-related layoff in the second half of last season, Raducanu was number 301 in the rankings when she made her comeback in early 2024.

There were many encouraging signs for the 2021 US Open winner as she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon, the semi-finals of the Nottingham Open and a pair of quarter-finals.

After returning to the top 100 after Wimbledon, Raducanu finished the year at number 58.

But the 22-year-old will also be the first to admit this has been another stop-start affair as she played just 13 games. WTA tour events as she was forced to miss several tournaments due to injury, most notably most of the Asia swing after suffering a foot injury at the Korea Open.

Former British No.1 Henman believes she needs to “build resilience” if she wants to reach a higher ranking next year.

Raducanu peaked at number 10 in the WTA rankings in July 2022 and Henman believes the top 30 is a “realistic” target for 2025.

“I think the challenge for Raducanu is around physical resilience,” the former world number four said on the Sky Sports Tennis podcast.

“You talk about Katie Boulter and all the improvements she has made. Yes, she has improved as a tennis player, her movements have improved, but it is also about the resilience to be able to play that full schedule.

“You saw Katie play four or five tournaments in a row at the end of the year. She made it to a final in Hong Kong, at the last event of the year, and finished in the top 25.

“Raducanu has had a decent year, going from around 300 to the top 60, but if you look at the amount of tennis she has played, she hasn’t played much. If she built that resilience, she played good tennis every time she stepped on the court.

“That is why I think top 50, top 30 in 2025 are completely realistic.”

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Raducanu, who finished this year with a 23-13 record, recently admitted that one of her big goals for next year is to “stay on the court longer.”

“I think I started the year quite well, the first half, until Wimbledon. Then I struggled a bit more with my body, I think physically. “I couldn’t play the full calendar and stay on court as much as I would have liked,” she admitted.

“But my assessment is, you know, I think sometimes I need to be reminded: I’m in the top 60 in the world and I’ve played less than 15 events, which is quite unheard of in a way.

“I have to pat myself on the back for that. I know I’m a dangerous player. I know no one wants to put my name in the draw. I am proud of that and I look forward to hopefully staying on the track longer next year.”