Tim Henman has welcomed Emma Raducanu’s decision to enter qualifying for the first time since she won the 2021 US Open, saying “I am convinced the results will follow.”

Henman, himself a three-time Wimbledon semi-finalist, was court side in New York when Raducanu blitzed the field four years ago, offering a valuable point of emotional support.

He acknowledges that the intervening years have been difficult for Raducanu, who has sometimes felt like she was carrying “a backpack of rocks”. But she has started 2025 looking to play more matches and more events, as demonstrated by her decision to take a wild card into qualifying for next week’s Abu Dhabi Open.

“I have always personally been a big, big advocate for that,” said Henman when asked about Raducanu’s intention to expand her playing schedule. “I always played a lot of matches.

“That’s where college tennis [in the USA] is such a good opportunity because they compete. You look at Jacob Fearnley [the British No 3 who beat Kei Nishikori on Friday morning to level the Davis Cup qualifying tie in Japan at 1-1]. He has built up a lot of match-play experience and the resilience, physically and mentally, that goes with that. He has then transitioned to the tour.

“For Emma, I think that [playing qualifying] is a great move. If she can just stay healthy, if she competes a lot, the results will come. She is that good. If she wasn’t good enough, then you would say: ‘Oh well, she has to be careful with her scheduling, choose some weaker tournaments.’ If she keeps that number of tournaments in which she competes and stays healthy, I am convinced the results will follow.”

Raducanu’s start to 2025 has already been typically eventful, featuring a withdrawal from Auckland on account of back trouble, followed by two strong wins over talented opponents at the Australian Open, and then a chastening 6-1, 6-0 thrashing at the hands of world No 2 Iga Swiatek.

Then, at the end of last week, it was announced that her coach Nick Cavaday was stepping down from his post on account of health issues. Telegraph Sport understands that this is connected with Raducanu’s determination to play a busy schedule this year, as Cavaday is not currently well enough to spend so many weeks on the road.

Their collaboration, which started late in 2023 as Raducanu made her return from operations on both wrists and one ankle, was a successful one, peaking last summer with a run to the fourth round of Wimbledon.

It will be difficult to replace Cavaday for two reasons: firstly because of the depth of a connection which was first established when Raducanu was an 11-year-old junior and he the director of Bromley Tennis Centre, and secondly because of his insight into technical minutiae.

Raducanu enjoys discussing swing planes and racket angles; indeed, it is arguable that she has focused too much on this scientific side of the sport and too little on building up her bank of match-play experience.

If all goes to plan, 2025 will help to redress that balance. In the short term, Raducanu is travelling with her new full-time fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, who is seasoned enough to supply tennis expertise as well as gym supervision.

“It is really unfortunate that Nick’s health has stopped [the coaching partnership],” said Henman on Thursday, during the launch of Sky Sports’ coverage of the 2025 tennis season. “When you look at Emma’s history, she has changed coaches. [Cavaday was the sixth full-time appointment in three-and-a-half years.] So, I don’t think it will disrupt her a great deal.

“I think it is great that she now has a fitness trainer on board. Which is the priority – is it technical, physical or mental? I think it’s physical, to build up that resilience, so that she can compete week-in, week-out.

“I have never really felt like it has been an issue with her level. When she has played, her level has always been very, very good. If you look at the breakdown of her ranking last year, she played 33 matches – I think 11 that were on grass. When you look at the other 10 months of the year, to have only played 22 matches, that’s so few. She’s completely aware of that. She will get a coach I am sure at the right moment. But I think the work physically she is doing is the most important thing.”

Henman’s point about the quality of Raducanu’s results, as opposed to the quantity, is born out by the Elo ranking generated by Tennis Abstract, the world’s leading results database.

Derived from chess, the Elo ranking hands out points in accordance with which players you have beaten, rather than how many. It places Raducanu at No 12 in the world, 44 places above her WTA figure.

By virtue of her Australian Open results, which included a pair of straight-set wins over 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and the big-hitting American Amanda Anisimova, Raducanu climbed one spot on the Elo table and five on the WTA one.

But she has yet to establish real consistency. Not only was she swatted aside by Swiatek in a third-round match that saw her “lose her belief a bit” – in her opponent’s words – but Raducanu then went on to Singapore and suffered an unexpected first-round reverse to world No 101 Cristina Bucsa.

Sky Sports is home to more live tennis than anywhere else. Watch year-round action including the ATP and WTA Tours and US Open exclusively on Sky Sports and NOW.