{"id":302416,"date":"2023-12-14T16:24:58","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T16:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=302416"},"modified":"2023-12-14T16:24:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-14T16:24:58","slug":"emma-raducanu-tipped-to-challenge-for-major-titles-again-as-draper-backs-brit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/tennis\/emma-raducanu-tipped-to-challenge-for-major-titles-again-as-draper-backs-brit\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Raducanu tipped to challenge for Major titles again as Draper backs Brit"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Emma Raducanu will be competing for more Grand Slam titles when she returns to full fitness, Jack Draper has insisted. The 2021 US Open champion is scheduled to be back in action at the ASB Classic in Auckland next month after surgeries on her wrists and left ankle last May.<\/p>\n

Playing with a protected ranking on world No.103, Raducanu will probably need a wildcard or go through qualifying to play the Australian Open from January 2024.<\/p>\n

But her fellow 21-year-old and friend Draper claimed Raducanu, who got into the world\u2019s top ten last year, is destined to get back to the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she’s fit, she’s an incredible player,\u201d said the British No.4. \u201cI think she’s been struggling with injuries for a long time. I think people forget that before the US Open she was still in school. She didn’t have a lot of training. Obviously, she had that huge run and achieved what people dream of achieving in their whole career. And then obviously I think to expect so much of her after that is a bit of a mistake because she hasn’t maybe got a lot of that physical foundation and the experience of playing on the tour and all those things that all those other players have.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBut I think the talent that she’s got and the maturity as well to do what she did at the US Open is off the charts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if she can get herself to a good fitness level, she’ll be right up there with the best in the world and she’ll be competing for Grand Slams again. It’s not a quick fix, it takes a lot of time. She’s motivated to want to come back. I think maybe with my shoulder injury, you come off court and you have all this time watching people win things on the big stages and you feel like you’re not being productive and you gain that love for it back and you gain that motivation to want to be back to where you were.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that at some point next year, the year after that she’s going to be back to being in those finals and those big positions because she’s got everything it takes. It’s just a matter of when.\u201d<\/p>\n