As a heralded Brit who is a similar age and has experienced injury woes,
Jack Draper has gone through his fair share of setbacks similar to
Emma Raducanu. But the British No.4 ahead of the UTS Final in London has backed his compatriot to return to Grand Slam winning form.
Draper said that what fails to get mentioned is the fact that she is still only young and was thrust into the spotlight early so isn't fully developed yet. He also added though that it may take her a while to get back to the top as a result, but that he has no doubts that eventually she will and achieve her undoubted potential in the end.
โWhen she's fit, she's an incredible player,โ said Draper. โI 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."
โBut 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.
โI 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 the 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.
โI 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.โ