Former World no.4 Tim Henman recently said it was a privilege to be on side court for all of Emma Raducanu’s US Open main draw matches. The Brit went on to create history as he became the first qualifier to clinch the US Open in the history of the sport.
Raducanu won three qualifying matches and then won seven main draw matches on the trot to stun everyone. The 18-year old brought her best to the court and went past the big players to achieve her first Grand slam title.
In fact, Raducanu didn’t even drop a single set throughout her 10 matches, which was simply sensational. Raducanu showed all the maturity in her game despite being only 18-years old as he played without any kind of pressure.
Henman said while talking to TalkSport, “It was a privilege to be on the side of the court for all her main draw matches and just see the quality of her tennis at close quarters,” Henman said.
“The way she dealt with the step up in class of each match and took it in her stride, I thought her resilience mentally, her composure and the consistency was incredible.”
“To win 20 straight sets to qualify and win a Grand Slam is unprecedented in our sport,” he added. “It was a real pleasure to watch.”
Meanwhile, as expected the level of expectations is huge from Raducanu after she won US Open. However, Henman added that she is still inexperienced and we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.
“I think that’s probably getting a little ahead of ourselves,” Henman said when asked about the possibility of Raducanu winning multiple Slams. “She has shown her enormous potential by what she did in New York, but she is still so young and so inexperienced. She has played so few events on the tour, let alone at Grand Slam level. I think it’s very easy to get ahead of ourselves.”
Raducanu was knocked out of BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells in the Second Round by Caroline Garcia.