Emma Raducanu: Tim Henman highlights key areas to improve to ‘win big matches’ after Coco Gauff loss

Tim Henman believes Emma Raducanu’s Australian Open defeat to Coco Gauff was a “learning curve” for the British No. 1 and highlighted key areas where she needs to improve to win “big matches”.

Raducanu acquitted herself well for most of the match but came up short and has still not made the third round of a Grand Slam since her shock 2021 US Open victory.

She is also yet to beat a top-10 player.

“Emma has unbelievable ball-striking skills and great technique. That’s why she qualified and won the US Open; she has the ability,” said former British No. 1 Henman.

“But you have to get the balance right between being aggressive and making unforced errors. There were 83 unforced errors between both players.

“Then it comes back not only to the mentality but the physicality of getting the ball into play and that’s where Coco has the advantage; she’s such a good athlete and has more tournaments, more training, and more durability under her belt. She was able to stay in and win the longer exchanges.

“This is another important learning curve for Emma, playing in this environment against the top players. She can see the level. She was the one dictating a lot of these points, but she still has to build up the physicality to stay in the rallies and make sure she doesn’t make unforced errors. If she does that, she can win big matches.”

Raducanu, who had an injury scare before the Australian Open when she rolled her ankle in Auckland, made 21 unforced errors in the first set.

She rallied from a break down in the second set and had two set points to force a decider before losing in a tie-break.

“She’s such a good ball-striker,” said Eurosport expert Mats Wilander.

“And when you’re putting pressure on your opponent like that you’re bound to get some unforced errors from your opponent, and you’re going to make some unforced errors yourself.

“For Raducanu the potential is there to be a top-five player because of the technique, the ball-striking and the fighting spirit. But in the end, I think Gauff wanted it more and was a bit more comfortable not playing great, but still needing the win under her belt.”

While Gauff will continue her quest for a first Grand Slam title, Raducanu will look to recover under the guidance of new coach Sebastian Sachs.

Sachs is Raducanu’s fifth coach in the last 18 months and former world No. 1 Justine Henin thinks she needs “stability” to help her progress.

“We cannot expect Emma to play every tournament like she played when she won the US Open,” Henin told Eurosport.

“She’s still developing, and we’re talking about the identity of her game. She has to be more structured, and for that she has to train and practise.

“We could feel the tension in the match, but Gauff showed her experience. Emma just didn’t have enough to push it to a final set. Gauff had more experience and dealt with the important points better. Both are very young, and they have to keep improving and developing. I’m sure both of them will play a lot of matches together.

“Tennis life is hard. You have to work hard, take time and get to know each other. You have to know yourself, too. Stability helps because it helps you through big and difficult moments. If you work three or six months with a coach, that’s often not enough time to work together, and you cannot do the job in three or six months.

“It’s not 10 or 20 weeks at Emma’s age [that she needs to put in], it’s every day. It’s a huge routine, but it’s a necessity to get to the goals she wants to achieve.”

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