Could 2026 hold something special for Emma Raducanu? Commentator Jonathan Overend explains why there is cause for optimism for the British No 1.
Raducanu had hoped to put together a strong finish to 2025 to guarantee herself a seeding at the Australian Open in January but instead .
The 22-year-old had been due to play in next week's Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and then the Hong Kong Open beginning on October 27, but has decided to focus on recovery after feeling unwell.
It has been an up-and-down season for Raducanu who won only three matches before the Miami Open in mid-March, but a temporary coaching arrangement with Mark Petchey bore immediate fruit as she reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final before Spaniard Francisco Roig took over in time for the US Open.
That heralded a fine spring and summer, with Raducanu consistently winning matches and nearly halving her ranking.
However, she won just two matches in four tournaments in Asia, losing from match points up against both Barbora Krejcikova and Jessica Pegula.
Raducanu may have done enough to be seeded in Melbourne, boosting her chances of avoiding the sort of draws she has faced at Grand Slams this season, and she has given herself a good platform to build from.
Speaking to SportNews, commentator Jonathan Overend reflected on Raducanu's season and pinpointed the areas of her game she needs to improve in order to target a successful 2026.
"The challenges for Raducanu this year have been pretty obvious," he said. "Getting over the line and beating top-10 players remains a problem, staying fully fit and well, because the back has been an issue and towards the end of the year she had this period of illness which prevented her from competing as she would like in Asia.
"She'll obviously be disappointed at not being able to win one more point in those tight matches against Krejcikova and Pegula. Better players than Emma Raducanu have lost from match point up and it hurts, but it also demonstrates that you are in a position to get wins against top players and she proved that in the summer with those two matches against Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon and Cincinnati.
"It's those two matches which give the most cause for optimism moving towards 2026. She absolutely looked like a top-20 player and a top-10 challenger. She has to believe those days can happen all the time."
Raducanu is set to turn 23 in November having jumped up the rankings from outside 300 at the start of 2024 to inside the top 30 coming towards the end of 2025.
"If you take away everything else around Raducanu - the extraordinary Grand Slam fairytale, the hype, the enormous focus and interest there is. For any player at that age to make that ranking leap is seriously impressive," said Overend.
"Outside 300 in the world, double wrist surgery, into the top 30 inside two years before turning 23? Any player, you would say, that's amazing! The fact it's Emma Raducanu obviously means the conversation is very different because of what she has achieved before that and the expectation that comes with it, which is why I'm always enormously reluctant to compare this Raducanu to the fairytale Raducanu who won the US Open at the age of 18.
"You almost want to disregard the achievement because in telling the story it distorts the reality of the progress that she has made in the last two years."
"Let's say that didn't happen - it was all a dream! Let's say Raducanu went to college in America, took a business degree, played some college tennis and turned pro at 21 but had massive issues with her wrist, had double wrist surgery, was struggling to get back on the tour, was outside 300 in the world, but within two years had made top 30. It would just be a brilliant trajectory," Overend added.
"So it's really important everybody sees it in that context and that she sees that context and sees the progress that she has made, and I'm sure she does."
Raducanu retired during the second set of her clash against Ann Li in Wuhan last week with dizziness in hot and humid temperatures, and later posted a picture on social media of herself at a doctor's office.
She said she felt better and chose to play the Ningbo Open but was clearly not 100 per cent and again lost her opening match.
Raducanu won the first set against Zhu Lin but looked lethargic in the second and had her blood pressure checked, while she struggled with a recurrence of lower-back issues in the decider and was barely moving by the end.
"There are issues with the back which remains a nagging complaint at times. The illness during the Asia swing was clearly bad timing but it was quite worrying to see her so dizzy. But if she keeps working with the right people, working on her health and fitness, then she's going to head in the right direction," said Overend.
In terms of her game, Overend feels there are still areas she can improve under the guidance of Rafael Nadal's former coach Roig.
"She's done a lot of work on the serve which is noticeable and does have a bit more pop on it. It is a bit more consistent with the first delivery, getting those numbers up," he said. "To me, it's the response when the return comes back because the best players in the world can do so much damage with that first hit on return. It can be back at you before you know it and that was exposed during the [Elena] Rybakina humbling at the US Open and I think she knows that is an area that needs improvement.
"It's that reaction time, it's that footwork after dropping down from serve. It's just generally being prepared for something that is coming at you quicker than ever and that is only going to come faster.
"Coach Francisco Roig will have loads of methods to try to work on that. I'm sure it's high on that agenda."
Raducanu won 28 matches this year and reached the semi-finals in Washington, but she excelled at the Miami Open in March, reaching the quarter-finals, beating eighth-seed Emma Navarro before losing to former US Open finalist Jessica Pegula.
"Another problem has been how some close matches have disappeared from her very rapidly. I think it's the inevitable let down of missing match points. It's hard to recover from when you've been one point away from winning the match. How do you shut away that disappointment and move on?" said Overend.
"The reality is she's played 50 matches over the year. It's been a successful year in that regard. She has had some good wins and been pretty consistent against lower-ranked players. She's challenged high-ranked players and she had a stand-out win against Navarro in Miami. She's made a semi-final and she continues to make really excellent progress in ranking terms and I think the only way is up.
"I remain confident she can become a top-10 player. It's going to require a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, and real commitment to this relationship with Francisco Roig which looks like it has the potential to be her most successful coaching relationship for a long time. 2026 could hold something special for Raducanu."
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