Boris Becker has insisted that British tennis star Emma Raducanu has lost her ‘fear factor’ heading into the 2025 Australian Open.
Raducanu, who was forced to pull out of this year’s ASB Classic due to a ‘back niggle’, stunned the tennis world in 2021 when she clinched the US Open singles title as a teenage qualifier in a remarkable achievement.
It saw the 22-year-old earn a number of lucrative sponsorship deals and tremendous respect within the sport across the globe, eventually moving up to a career-high world No.10 ranking in 2022.
Raducanu has largely struggled ever since her fairytale in New York, though, and still hasn’t landed a second title anywhere on the WTA Tour.
There were some positive signs in 2024, with Raducanu defeating top-10 opponents at the Eastbourne International and Wimbledon respectively, while she also reached a number of different quarter-finals.
But ahead of the Australian Open, where Raducanu is ranked No.60 and will be unseeded as she faces 26th-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in her opening match, Becker feels the Brit is no longer feared as she once was.
Tennis legend Becker, a Eurosport expert working on their live coverage of the Australian Open, told Metro: ‘You have the fear factor when you are winning and when you are playing consistently.
‘She has not done that because she’s had a lot of physical difficulties really ever since she won the US Open. She brought in a fitness coach (Yutaka Nakamura), so that is a good start.
‘But ultimately, the fear factor goes out the window if you’re not winning consistently. Therefore it is a problem for her.
‘It can give you an advantage if your opponent is afraid of you, if they don’t want to play you.
‘But to have that respect, you have to play week-in, week-out and ideally you have to win a couple tournaments along the way.
‘She’s still a young woman. In tennis terms, still very young. I think people should be patient with her a little bit.
‘I think she knows best what she has to work on now, which is her physicality and her consistently in playing tournaments.
‘Once she is able to do that, I’m happy to discuss again in a years’ time about her year. But it is all in her hands.’
Meanwhile, Becker has sent a classy message to Jack Draper after his explosive run to the US Open semi-finals last year, saying that the British No.1 is free to call him for advice any time.
German three-time Wimbledon champion Becker is friends with Draper’s father and has been tracking the 23-year-old’s career for a number of years.
Draper has made no secret of his love for Becker, telling Metro in December 2023 that he is an ‘amazing coach’ and was an ‘unbelievable player’ in his era.
‘I’m a big fan of Jack,’ Becker added. ‘He is very mature. I like his style of tennis. Having lived in London for a long time, I know his father well.
‘Years ago, I got a call from a friend of mine, to ask if I wanted to watch thisyoung kid called Jack Draper.
‘Since then, I have watched his development over the years. His coach and his whole team are doing a great job.
‘The question of if I will be one day coaching him, I don’t think that is necessary, because he has a very good team.
‘But I like him. I spoke to him in Vienna this year. We like each other. If he has a question, if he wants to improve his game, he can always call me. Currently, I am too busy with my television work to coach anybody. But I like his style, I like his personality and his ranking is only going to go up.’
Watch every moment of the Australian Open live on discovery+ starting from January 12th.
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