Emma Raducanu has been told how hiring Andy Murray’s former fitness trainer can help her career after a season marred by injury. The world No 75 retired from a match on four separate occasions this year while struggling with physical issues on other occasions, but Tim Henman believes her latest hire could be the answer to her problems.
Raducanu had a mixed first season on the professional tennis tour as she ended the year with a 17-19 win-loss record and struggled with multiple setbacks as she was forced to retire from four different matches through injury while struggling with issues like blistering during the Australian Open and Billie Jean King Cup. Her year also ended early when a wrist injury saw her pull out of the Transylvania Open and BJK Cup, though she finally hit a ball with her right hand this week for the first time since withdrawing from the events.
The 20-year-old recently hired Jez Green – the former fitness trainer of Andy Murray, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev – in a bid to improve her strength and stamina following multiple setbacks this year, and Tim Henman has now told the British No 1 just how valuable her new coach could be. “For Emma, working with Jez Green, doing the track work, the gym work, using his experience and knowledge allied with her work ethic, she’ll definitely be fitter, stronger, faster,” the retired pro told The Times.
“Having seen her train over the last four to six weeks, she’s really putting in those hard yards to build that resilience.” The 2021 US Open champion linked up with Murray’s ex-trainer almost two months ago, after Dmitry Tursunov walked away from their coaching partnership following a couple of months together.
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He added: “I’ve been at the NTC and there’s a lot of people in there – Jack Draper was hitting with Liam Broady, there was Paul Jubb, Ryan Peniston, Harriet Dart and Heather Watson; there’s a good vibe and healthy competition for all the British players.”
The retired pro-turned-pundit also believes that Draper could have a standout year after rising from No 265 in the world to No 42 this season, and noted that the 20-year-old was another young player who had been able to improve his strength and watch it translate to better results on the tennis court. “He grew a lot and he’s almost 6ft 3in, but it took time for his body to catch up,” Henman explained.
“It’s incredible now to see how much stronger he is. He’s hitting the ball harder, he’s moving quicker, he’s more robust. He’s a lefty, he’s got big shots and he’s got the belief now as well. I don’t see any reason why he can’t be knocking on the door of the top 20 pretty soon.”
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