Emma Raducanu enjoyed her best run at a tournament since the 2021 US Open (Image: Getty)
Emma Raducanu fought hard but was ultimately defeated in the quarter-final of the Miami Open.
Tim Henman has heaped praise on Emma Raducanu following the Brit’s epic run to the Miami Open quarter-final – her longest in a WTA Tour event since winning the US Open in 2021. It wasn’t to be for Raducanu in the end, with Jessica Pegula prevailing in the pair’s semi-final, but Henman insists she’s on the right path following a difficult few months.
Raducanu battled hard to get the better of the American though, with Wednesday’s contest finishing 4-6, 6-7 (7-3), 2-6 in Pegula’s favour. Such was the effort Raducanu had been putting into the last eight clash, she had at one point required a check-up from the Miami Open medical staff, with the 22-year-old forced to have her vitals checked.
The former Grand Slam winner later put it down to fatigue, but Henman believes, despite the defeat, Raducanu can still walk away from the tournament with her head held high. Speaking to Sky Sports after watching the incident, he mused: “I thought Emma played a really good match tonight, she fought so hard, two very tight first two sets.
“I thought Emma did so well to get that second set, she looked a little fatigued and started being a bit more aggressive to keep those points short. Looking to take the match to Pegula. When she got that second set, you thought: ‘There’s a chance’.
Raducanu did make it to the semi-final of the South Korean Open in 2022, but she only played three matches at that particular tournament. The Miami Open represented the first event since her Flushing Meadows win where she’s won four consecutive matches at the same tournament.
Henman continued: “When you see Raducanu playing at this level, the tennis has always been there. But for me, the movements, in and out of the corners when she’s been on defence. The way she’s strung together these match wins, it’s going to give her so much confidence.
“It’s now just more of the same. She’s got to keep doing the work in the gym, on the track and when she gets out into a tournament, I think these match wins will continue.”
Barring injury, it’s likely Raducanu’s next outing will come in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers next month, with Great Britain scheduled to play Germany and the Netherlands in Group F. Following that, it’s a return to clay, with the Madrid Open, Italian Open and French Open all to come in the next two months.
