Former British No 1 Dan Evans has confidently predicted that Emma Raducanu “will win Wimbledon some day”.
“She’s good, and I think – I’m saying this in as nice a way as possible – I think she thinks she’s good,” the now-retired Evans advised The Telegraph in an interview.
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“Not in an arrogant way, but when she plays big matches, she’s like ‘Whatever. This is just another match.’ And yeah, I just think one day she’ll get it.”
Raducanu won the US Open as an 18-year-old qualifier in 2021 but it stays the only title of her profession and she has only reached the fourth spherical of a grand slam event once in the 5 years since.
The 2026 season has been another disappointing one for Raducanu as she has dropped out of the world’s high 100 after lacking Wimbledon and the US Open due to a stress fracture in her proper leg.
Injuries and fitness points have been a fixed theme of Raducanu’s profession since her beautiful US Open triumph, while there have been questions over her dedication, but Evans believes the 23-year-old is working arduous to attempt and obtain her targets.
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“There’s no doubt she needs to have a racket in her hand a bit more,” he said. “I’m sure she’s getting pushed side-to-side by endorsements, and there’s a bit of tug of war on what she needs to do, what she doesn’t.
“I admit I’ve not watched her practices very usually, but from what I’m advised she’s a good coach: she works for two, three hours in a row with hardly any break.”
Evans, 36, retired at this 12 months’s Wimbledon in a low-key finish to a profession that saw him attain the world’s top-30. The Birmingham participant was controversially denied a Wimbledon singles wildcard and performed his closing doubles match out on Court 15, rather than a important show court.
Dan Evans ended his professional career with a first-round defeat in Wimbledon doubles (PA)
Evans said he was shown a “lack of respect” during his final grass-court season and blamed Leon Smith, Great Britain’s Davis Cup captain and the head of men’s tennis for the Lawn Tennis Association, for denying him wildcards into tournaments.
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“My gripe is that there’s no connection made between what people have accomplished for British tennis, by taking part in in the Davis Cup, and the wildcards,” Evans added. “Because, the quantity of occasions I most likely did not need to play Davis Cup, but I did it… and then I could not get a wild card into the Ilkley Challenger.
“I just think it’s a lack of respect, but that’s what you come to expect from the Davis Cup captain. Once he doesn’t need you, that’s what you get, isn’t it? So, you know, he won’t be on my Christmas cards this year, and he didn’t respond to my message I sent him after [retirement].”
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