Tim Henman lifts lid on private messages with Emma Raducanu in race to be fit for Aus Open | Tennis | Sport

Tim Henman revealed that Emma Raducanu has been privately messaging him in her race to recover in time for the upcoming Australian Open after injuring her ankle. Speaking exclusively to Express Sport, the retired former British pro said that the 20-year-old was doing everything she could to be close to her top level of fitness with the first Grand Slam of the season just four days away.

Raducanu is in a race against time to recover for the Australian Open after turning her ankle during her second-round match in Auckland last week. The world No 75 spent the off-season working on her fitness after suffering several injury setbacks last year and appeared physically stronger already in her opening match but rolled her ankle when her round two clash with Viktoria Kuzmova was moved indoors due to rain.

The 20-year-old has since travelled to Melbourne to continue practising and try to recover in time for the tournament’s start on Monday, and Henman has now disclosed that he has been communicating with Raducanu about the setback. “I’ve had a few messages with her and she’s trying incredibly hard to be as close as she can to her peak fitness,” the former British No 1 said, speaking ahead of the Australian Open, which is live and exclusive on discovery+ and Eurosport.

“But it’s very frustrating when you’ve done all that work in the off-season and then you get a sort of freak injury like that in Auckland.” The former world No 4 also compared Raducanu to fellow 20-year-old British pro Jack Draper and explained that the 2021 US Open champion had been following in his footsteps by trying to build up her physicality to ensure she could go deep in tournaments before having that derailed by her latest injury at the ASB Classic.

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