Emma Raducanu can still "win multiple majors before the end of her career" says Mark Petchey, urges limited schedule to stop

Emma Raducanu can still win multiple majors in the sport in the belief of ex Andy Murray coach and renowned pundit and commentator, Mark Petchey but there is a caveat.

Raducanu has spent most of the past year dipping in and out of the sport and hasn't played enough by her own admission deciding to play one tournament often then taking two months off meaning while caution was exercised, consistency is always an issue.

Petchey said she needs to be playing week in, week out and that otherwise it could be an unfortunate fate as he said himself that he doesn't want her retiring by 26 or 27 because of this schedule decision.

“The harder you work, the easier it becomes when you play tennis matches. When you know you’ve put in the work the matches become ‘easier’ because your practice sessions should be arguably harder than the matches themselves," said Petchey to Betway.

“Emma [Raducanu] is too good in my opinion not to succeed. She's too athletic. She's too motivated when she's in between the lines. I think sometimes there have been a few times when she hasn’t been as prepared as she would like to be.

“I have 100 per cent confidence she will do the work in the off-season. There's nobody out there that's going to enjoy playing Emma when she's fully fit and fully motivated. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to sit here and say to you that she's going to be pushing a lot of the top 10 players consistently over the next twelve months.

“But there has to be a commitment to week in week out tournaments. The dipping in and out doesn't help the physical side of things. I want her to have longevity in the sport. I don't want her out of the sport at 26 or 27.

“Her team should be looking at how they manage her from here on in for another fifteen years of playing this sport if that's what she wants to do. I think she's well placed to do that.”

But while that is the case and he won't see her winning the Australian Open tomorrow, he does think more majors are firmly in her locker.

“I’ll never limit her potential. I genuinely believe she'll win multiple majors before the end of her career. I think it's a stretch to say that she could win the Australian Open, but I also don't think it’s beyond the realms of possibility.

“All I know is that if she's been healthy and she's got enough matches under her belt heading into Australia and she gets a favourable draw she’ll have an opportunity to challenge for the title.

“Obviously, a more realistic goal right now would be reaching the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park.”

“I'm a big believer that you should follow your own path. There certainly wasn't a blueprint for Emma to win the US Open, which she did. And I don't think she should be following anyone's path.

“Whatever path she's trodden in the last couple of years is something that she owns. The knowledge from that sort of journey that she's been on, she needs to implement without looking at anyone else.

“You can be inspired by other people, but when you're as good as Emma and from the lessons she has learned, she knows that puts her in the best place to play the best tennis.

“Tennis is an individual sport for a reason. You need to be very selfish in your outlook to do the things that are right for you rather than look at other people.