Boris Becker believes Raducanu is "miles away" from reaching the later rounds in tournaments

Former World No.1 Boris Becker claims Emma Raducanu is far from her best at the moment, following the British teenager's abysmal results during the 2022 season.

After stunning the sporting world to lift her first Grand Slam title at the US Open last September, Raducanu has won only four matches on tour as she has been hampered by injury, illness and blisters. The 19-year-old made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Great Britain over the weekend and won her opening rubber against Tereza Martincova from the Czech Republic before suffering a heavy defeat at the hands of former French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova.

Becker believes that Raducanu is not in great form at the moment, and these continual early round losses will lead to a drop in self-confidence for the World No.12.

“The honeymoon phase is over, and the Brits are starting to worry,” Becker told Eurosport’s Das Gelbe vom Ball podcast. “You can lose, but if you’re always eliminated in the first or second round after winning the US Open, you ask yourself. How is that possible now?

“Emma won’t win every tournament, but you can always expect semi-finals plus or minus, but she’s miles away from that at the moment.

“Everything is much more difficult than it looks from the outside. Especially with the psyche. How do you deal with the pressure? How do you deal with your own expectations? What are you doing differently now than before?”

Raducanu is scheduled to take on Australian Storm Sanders in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, which will be her first WTA main draw tournament on clay.