"She was as solid as a rock": Tim Henman and Jo Durie laud Emma Raducanu after 'confident' return to Australian Open

After taking close to a year off due to injury, Great Britain's Emma Raducanu looked confident in her opening round win at the 2024 Australian Open, according to compatriot and former player Tim Henman.

Raducanu's last Grand Slam appearance was in Melbourne a year ago, as the 2021 US Open champion has since battled with injury and underwent surgery to return to the sport she loves. The British star made her comeback in Auckland a few weeks ago, before recording a clinical 6-3 6-2 victory over American Shelby Rogers in the first round of the Australian Open.

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Henman has high praise for Raducanu following victory

Although Raducanu appeared composed after her win over Rogers, Eurosport analyst Henman believes the 21-year old was doing her best to mask her true emotions.

“I’m sure that’s going to be such an emotional win for her,” said Henman in the Eurosport Cube. “To go out there and put in such a clinical performance - 6-3 6-2 - in what looked like tricky conditions, pretty windy out there, I’m sure she’ll be absolutely delighted to be through to round two.”

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Jo Durie, former WTA player and Henman's colleague at Eurosport, praised Raducanu's performance, adding the former World No.10 looked extremely confident in her return to Grand Slam action.

"She’ll be so happy with that,” said Durie on commentary for Eurosport at the end of the match. “She did everything she needed to do. She was solid as a rock. Very well played. [I liked] the amount of winners she was getting. She served well enough and was going after it. I thought Emma kept it nice and compact, tight, knew what she was doing, looked confident, and it was a good match."