"Emma Raducanu's played 7 or 8 tournaments in her professional career, she just needs a little bit of time" - Tim Henman

Tim Henman has urged tennis fans to be patient with Emma Raducanu in the wake of her lopsided defeat to Elena Rybakina at the Sydney International. Citing Raducanu's lack of experience on tour, Henman pointed out that her fellow talented youngsters like Coco Gauff and Jannik Sinner needed time to find consistency on tour.

Raducanu, 19, stunned the world by becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam when she triumphed at the US Open in September. Since then she has lost four of her six matches on tour, including the recent drubbing at the hands of Rybakina, where she managed to win just one game.

Speaking to Eurosport, the former World No. 4 Henman highlighted the importance of giving young talents like Raducanu time to develop.

"I reflect on some of the other players like when you look at Coco Gauff or Jannik Sinner, it takes time, they're enormous talents but you've got to be able to let them develop," Tim Henman said.

Citing the example of Sinner, the Brit pointed out how the young Italian required plenty of matches to establish himself on tour. Stressing that Raducanu has played only a handful of tour-level events so far, Henman urged everyone to give her time as well.

“When you see someone like Sinner, you see how well he played at the Tour Finals, he’s knocking on the door of the top 10, establishing himself, now we can see where he's at," he said. "Emma's played seven or eight tournaments in her professional career, she just needs a little bit of time."

The Sydney International was the ninth WTA tournament of Emma Raducanu's fledgling career. So far, the US Open champion has only played in two Slams, with Wimbledon being the other one.

Henman explained that the 19-year-old is still new to the rigors of the tour and that she should only be judged when she has played every important tournament twice.

“The reality is she's so new to all of this, and it is a steep learning curve," Henman continued. “I get asked all the time how good she's going to be and she is a fantastic player, an enormous talent, a great athlete who's got an amazing mindset, but I always think that the time to judge these young players is when they played every tournament twice."

The four-time Wimbledon semifinalist pointed out that his compatriot would have played each Major twice only in 2023. According to the 47-year-old, she should not have been scrutinized before that.

"Form’s temporary, class is permanent" - Tim Henman on Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu contracted COVID-19 in December last year, forcing her to withdraw from the Mubadala World Tennis Championships. Consequently, she had to isolate for 10 days ahead of traveling to Australia.

Henman feels it badly affected the teenager's preparation at the start of the year.

“She had a tough end to last year, she's had COVID, she had to quarantine for 10 days, then when she came out she wasn't really able to get started with training,” he explained.

While pointing out that jet lag, too, must have played a part in her loss, Henman underlined the importance of managing expectations from the young star.

“Then she flies to Australia, the jet lag, and the practice and she's just trying to build from that," he continued. "I think it's important that everyone manages expectation, it's a long year, she's got a lot of great opportunities, and form’s temporary, class is permanent."