Tim Henman believes a specific physical issue may have limited Emma Raducanu during her first round win at the Australian Open

After British star Emma Raducanu advanced to the second round at the 2025 Australian Open, compatriot Tim Henman speculated on how an ailment could have impacted her play during the match.

Raducanu took on 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round. Despite hitting 15 double faults, the 2021 US Open champion overcame her opponent behind a 7-6(4) 7-6(2) victory.

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Henman pinpoints back problems as source of serve struggles

After ending her season early last year due to injuries, Raducanu was forced to withdraw from this year's ASB Classic due to a back injury. Although she was able to regain her fitness in time for the first Grand Slam of the season, Henman believes lingering back problems could have been responsible for Raducanu's serving woes against Alexandrova.

"She had to pull out of Auckland because of that back spasm and you kind of wonder if you have a bad back, the last thing you really want to be doing is serving so she might not have served so much coming into the event,” said Henman. “We have talked about how her service motion has changed a bit, it is a little bit longer.
"But at the end of the day if you can serve 15 double faults and still end up winning, it probably means the other areas of your game are working pretty well and against a seeded opponent she will just be pleased to get that win under her belt.
"She always fights but first and foremost it was great to see her on the match court. She hasn’t played a massive amount of tennis and you are thinking she needs to get matches under her belt."

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