Bringing back coach Andrew Richardson is already paying off for Emma Raducanu, believes former British No 1 Tim Henman.<\/p>\n
Raducanu was denied a first title since her 2021 US Open triumph after a 6-0 7-6 (8-6) defeat by Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the Queen’s Club final on Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n The British No 1, who powered through a two-match Saturday to reach Sunday’s showdown, did not drop a set at Queen’s until the first in the final.<\/p>\n Instagram<\/p>\n This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies. Enable Cookies<\/a> Instagram<\/p>\n This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies. Enable Cookies<\/a> Raducanu reunited with Richardson in May, the coach who guided her to that famous US Open triumph as a qualifier, and Henman feels it has been a step in the right direction for her.<\/p>\n “I think this has been such a positive week to have Emma back competing and winning matches, playing that controlled, aggressive tennis that we’ve seen in the past,” he told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n “It’s pretty clear to see that she was in great spirits on the court; her body language looked very positive.<\/p>\n “There’s so much upside from this week. It’s only one week; she’s got to keep building on it, and fingers crossed she can do that.<\/p>\n “I think it is great Andrew Richardson is back in her corner. Obviously, he’s known her for many, many years, a long time prior to their success at the US Open.<\/p>\n “You can hear his input from the side of the court, he was a good player himself, a very good coach and fingers crossed Emma will stick with it.<\/p>\n “I think consistency and continuity are something that has been missing for a number of years and I really hope Andrew gets the chance to keep building because this really is the first real opportunity for the relationship to flourish. This has been a really positive week for both.”<\/p>\n Consistency is key for Raducanu <\/p>\n Instagram<\/p>\n This content is provided by Instagram, which may be using cookies and other technologies. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Instagram cookies. Enable Cookies<\/a> This very encouraging run for Raducanu, after years under what has often seemed like crushing expectation, was not, she insisted, a return to her former self, but the incarnation of a “new Emma”.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old finished runner-up to Sorana Cirstea in Cluj-Napoca, her second final, in February, but missed two-and-a-half months of the season with post-viral illness and had just one win under her belt since March.<\/p>\n “I think I played really well this week,” said Raducanu, who pulled out of playing in Nottingham this week<\/a>. “I think I’m playing pretty freely, pretty aggressively, but finding the right balance, returning, been serving pretty well. It’s important on grass.<\/p>\n “My team have helped me through some really sticky situations in the past few months, and it honestly means the world to me for them to believe unconditionally. I wouldn’t be here also without them.”<\/p>\n She added: “I haven’t really played much this season, but to think I have made two finals so far, which I haven’t done in years, it has to be kind of, in a way, celebrated, and it’s a good achievement for me and I’m proud of it.”<\/p>\n Vekic reflected on Raducanu’s excellent run to the final, saying: “She playing really good tennis. Obviously she wouldn’t be in the final if she wasn’t. I think for her it’s just the most important to stay healthy.<\/p>\n “I think for everyone, the schedule is so tough. The level of tennis is so high. It’s so physically demanding. I think that’s the biggest thing.<\/p>\n “She likes to play in front of the home crowd.”<\/p>\n Optimism and hope<\/p>\n Sky Sports Raz Mirza on Raducanu’s Queen’s run<\/p>\n Twitter<\/p>\n This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. Enable Cookies<\/a> Raducanu has played five matches on grass and has come through unscathed, playing aggressively and dictating matches, which is the main reason why she reunited with coach Richardson.<\/p>\n She has gone back to her routes, but playing consistency and competing against the very best players who can suffocate her game style, is an issue.<\/p>\n Her wins over Cirstea and Iva Jovic were impressive, but Vekic showed experience, class, and composure, shutting out the noise to win a quality encounter.<\/p>\n Now it is time to reset with a well-earned week off and head into Eastbourne and then Wimbledon with real optimism and hope.<\/p>\n Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, live on Sky Sports or stream with NOW<\/a> and the Sky Sports app<\/a>, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bringing back coach Andrew Richardson is already paying off for Emma Raducanu, believes former British No 1 Tim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":639867,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[101,118,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-639866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-sports","tag-tennis","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639866\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/639867"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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