"We know she has got the game to do it": Robson urges Raducanu to take lead of Wozniacki and Svitolina in comeback

Former British No 1 Laura Robson has urged the young tennis star Emma Raducanu to take inspiration from fellow women players in order to return strongly.

The 20-year-old has suffered massively because of fitness concerns and therefore has played very little tennis this year.

Robson was quoted in a report recently where she urged Raducanu to take the cue from the likes of former world number one Caroline Wozniacki and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, who managed to return to action despite taking long breaks because of starting their families.

“We know she has got the game to do it,” said the 29-year-old. “She has the ball striking ability, she is a great mover and a great all-round player and she compete. All you can do is stay as healthy as possible and try to play as many matches as possible to see where you go.

“Other players have come back very quickly in this last year. Svtolina has been amazing to watch and then Wozniacki has looked amazing considering she has not played in three and a half years. There are lots of players for Emma to look up to as examples of how quickly it can come back and not to get too disheartened if it doesn’t because everyone is on their own journey.”

However, Robson also urged Raducanu to not push for a quick return to the court in order to avoid any further injuries.

“I wouldn’t want to put a date on it or put pressure on her to return at a certain point,” she said. “As anyone who has had a long-term injury knows, you have a goal in your mind and it is always adjusting. You might think you are going to be ready to play at a certain date and you pick up a little niggle somewhere else in your body as you have been doing months and months of compensating.

“She can’t play a lot of tennis at the moment, but it’s a huge step forward and she seems so happy to be back on court, which is lovely to see. I’m sure she is gunning to get back out there because having to watch all the tournaments on TV is the hardest part.”