Dan Evans Backs Emma Raducanu to Win Wimbledon Despite Recent Injury Setbacks

Former British No. 1 Dan Evans believes Emma Raducanu will add to her US Open triumph by winning Wimbledon, despite her recent injury woes.

Raducanu has not competed since June, when she reached the Queen’s Club final before losing to Donna Vekic.

The 23-year-old suffered a stress fracture in her lower right leg and was forced to miss both Wimbledon and the US Open.

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Raducanu has dropped to world No. 107, her lowest position in two years, but Evans, who retired at this year’s Wimbledon after controversially being denied a singles wildcard, has backed her to win the grass-court title on home soil.

“I genuinely think she will win Wimbledon one day,” Evans told The Telegraph.

“Yeah, I don’t know why. She’s good, and I think—I’m saying this in as nice a way as possible—I think she thinks she’s good.

“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.”

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It has been a frustrating 12 months for Raducanu, marked by persistent physical issues. After a foot injury severely hampered her pre-season training, Raducanu then spent two-and-a-half months off court with a post-viral illness after initially falling unwell in early February.

She finally returned for the end of the clay-court season having rehired Andrew Richardson, the coach who guided her to the US Open title, but the pair’s time on court together has been limited.

Raducanu was not among the players named in Great Britain’s team for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in late September and with question marks over whether she will compete again in 2026.

The former world No. 10 could benefit from ending her season early to focus on recovery and secure a protected ranking before making her return next year.

“There’s no doubt she needs to have a racket in her hand a bit more,” said Evans. “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 often, but from what I’m told she’s a good trainer: she works for two, three hours in a row with hardly any break.”

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A protected ranking for Raducanu?

Should Raducanu miss at least six months of competition due to injury, she can use a special ranking for a select number of events upon her return.

This would be her top-50 ranking from during the grass season—the last time she competed and received prize money for a tournament.

What is a Protected Ranking?

It is a provision in tennis that enables players who have been absent from the sport for an extended period to qualify more easily for tournaments upon their return.

The ATP and WTA Tours have different rules when it comes to protected rankings.

For ATP Tour or other men’s tournaments, an eligible player could use a protected ranking calculated over the three months after they suffered an injury.

WTA Tour players see their protected rankings fixed as the same as it was at the time when the injury was first suffered.

A WTA player can use this protected ranking for eight tournaments in a year, or 12 if they miss more than a year.

Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis, former player-turned-TV analyst Annabel Croft said:

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if she made that decision [close down her season]. That wouldn’t be such a bad decision to take because you can fully heal, rest up, get as much treatment as possible and then come out fully fit, raring to go at the start of next year.

“Maybe if there’s a worry about the ranking drop with so many points to defend and potentially that ranking could plummet, although she might benefit from the protected ranking.

“All of these factors have to be considered, don’t they? But at the end of the day, your health is your wealth, as they say, and that is the most important factor and she just needs to get herself fit.

“It’s an unusual injury. I mean, I’ve had calf muscle injuries, which were not nice at all. And the minute you push off, you tweak it and it feels tight but the one thing that I’ve always thought about Raducanu, particularly when we saw her at Queen’s Club on the grass where she played such beautiful tennis, is that she’s very light on her feet. Movement has always been one of her strengths.

“She’s such a great athlete. She moves around the ball. She’s light on her feet and gets into great positions where she never looks off balance. But movement will be part of a major strength of what she brings out onto the court. That needs to be absolutely 100 per cent.”

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