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Jack Draper has no doubt Emma Raducanu will get back to the top of the game.<\/p>\n
The former US Open champion is preparing to make her comeback after eight months on the sidelines following operations on both wrists and one ankle.<\/p>\n
Raducanu, now ranked down at 298, has been training ahead of her first tournament back in Auckland in a couple of weeks\u2019 time but still does not have a coach or a settled team around her.<\/p>\n
Draper knows Raducanu well having grown up with her in juniors as the standout British hopes, and he said: \u201cObviously, when she\u2019s fit, she\u2019s an incredible player.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s been struggling with injuries for a long time. I think people forget that before the US Open she was still in school. She didn\u2019t have a lot of training. Obviously, she had that huge run and achieved what people dream of achieving in their whole career.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then I think to expect so much of her after that is a bit of a mistake because she hasn\u2019t maybe got a lot of that physical foundation and the experience of playing on the tour and all those things that all those other players have.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think the talent that she\u2019s got and the maturity as well to do what she did at the US Open is off the charts.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think if she can get herself to being at a good fitness level where she\u2019s built up that resilience over months and years and keeps working on her game, she\u2019ll be right up there with the best in the world and she\u2019ll be competing for grand slams again.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s motivated to want to come back. I don\u2019t know how she\u2019s going to get on but I know that, at some point next year, the year after that, she\u2019s going to be back to being in those finals and those big positions because she\u2019s got everything it takes. It\u2019s just a matter of when.\u201d<\/p>\n
Draper can certainly empathise with Raducanu\u2019s fitness struggles having spent much of this year on the sidelines himself.<\/p>\n
A lingering hip problem, an abdominal injury and illness limited him to five tournaments over the first four-and-a-half months of the season before he damaged a tendon in his shoulder at the French Open and was forced to miss Wimbledon.<\/p>\n
I feel like I’m a much better player now than I was when I was 38 in the world.<\/p>\n
But, since returning in mid-August, Draper has again showed what an exciting talent he is, making the fourth round at the US Open and then reaching his first ATP Tour final in Bulgaria last month.<\/p>\n
His ranking, which had plummeted to 123 from a high of 38 in February, is now back up to 61, and the 21-year-old is optimistic his \u2018Mr Injured\u2019 tag is behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always worked really hard, I\u2019ve always tried to do the right things for my body,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this year I was really excited to see what happened but it just seemed like I kept on getting injured. I think some of it could have been to do with the fact that at the end of last year I changed fitness trainer and the guy was well respected.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI loved him to bits and we put in a lot of great work, but I just don\u2019t think it was maybe the right work for me. And so my body kind of broke down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think now, especially after having all those injuries, what\u2019s a positive in it is that I understand my body a whole lot better now. So I feel like, in terms of the body stuff, I\u2019m in a great place.\u201d<\/p>\n
Draper is playing catch-up to the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, who are similar in age and have already established themselves at the top of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be competing with those two,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of my benchmark of where I want to get to. I see myself being right up there with them. It\u2019s just my past has been a little bit different. I\u2019ve had certain things that have held me back.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext year, I want to be top 20 in the world. I want to stay injury free. I want to make sure that I\u2019m able to play five sets in the grand slams without breaking down physically.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve got great people around me, I\u2019ve got the mindset where I want to achieve great things. It\u2019s just fulfilling my potential, whatever that looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watching from the sidelines gave Draper the chance to reflect on his career so far, and he added: \u201cI\u2019ve had a bit of a mindset shift in terms of my perspective on life.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I feel like that\u2019s a big part of why I\u2019ve come back so quickly is because I feel like I\u2019m a much better player now than I was when I was 38 in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Draper will spend Christmas at home before travelling to Australia on December 29 ahead of his first tournament in Adelaide beginning on January 8.<\/p>\n
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