The SportNews Tennis team sat down to assess the season and look ahead to 2026, including Jack Draper needing to learn the subtleties of grass and why Emma Raducanu is enjoying playing on the WTA Tour again.
Host Gigi Salmon was joined by commentator Jonathan Overend with Tim Henman and Laura Robson in Turin to reflect on an incredible season in which Draper excelled at the start of 2025 as he romped to a straight-sets victory over , while Raducanu surged up the rankings.
The panel also look ahead to what's to come from the British duo in 2026, as well as the rivalry between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic's chances of winning a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam and Amanda Anisimova being the year's surprise package.
On comparing Draper in 2024 to 2025, Robson said: "I think he's playing even more aggressively and using his strengths more. It was an area he was working on during the off season, knowing when to try and come forward. It's not something that we've seen from him over the years and to do it on multiple surfaces, making the final of Madrid, playing the same sort of brand of tennis as we saw in Indian Wells and to see him find that belief, that inner confidence that you need to challenge the best in the world - he's been building to it."
Overend on Draper's grass-court run: "Even though he had a decent go at Queen's, he felt all through that run he wasn't playing at his best. Even though he's been to number four in the world, there are still improvements he can make."
Henman on Draper's best surface: "Hard-courts are his best surface. We saw that at Indian Wells and the US Open. You think, where's he going to transition better to? You think it would be grass, but it was clay. The tennis he played in Madrid was incredible. Just going for it, playing so aggressively. He does have experience of playing on grass but it's also his movement. He's a big guy and he's very physical. I think he just needs to learn the subtleties of grass. How to defend, how to move, which I'm sure will come. And being a lefty! The way that he's improved his serve, the way he can use that one out wide in the ad box [left side] and perhaps serve and volley a little bit, it's another attribute."
Overend: "I hope she's really positive about it because this has been a real year of progress for Emma Raducanu in the real hope of where she will one day be again. Let's just imagine she never won that US Open, she started end of 2023 outside the Top 300 having had double wrist surgery. Now she's in and around the Top 30, Grand Slam seeding with the potential to go even higher. That in anyone's book is exceptional progress over two seasons. I think the progress she has made has been magnificent.
Henman: "She's moving in the right direction and I think we all would have agreed in the past she needs consistency and continuity. Having [coach] Francisco Roig in her corner. They have really looked like building a good partnership and I'm excited that is continuing through into 2026. He has huge experience."
Robson feels Raducanu has fallen in love with the WTA Tour again, saying: "I can't imagine how much pressure it felt like for a while there with everyone expecting you to have the same kind of results. It's very, very difficult to back it up when you're healthy, let alone somebody who's coming back from injury woes. It's something that we saw at the US Open. It feels like she's a bit more relaxed. She played a bit of golf in New York and just enjoying her time on the court, which is by far the most important thing. You forget how young she is."
Overend: "It's the fact that these two are so far ahead of everyone else. World-class almost doesn't do it justice because they have the potential to join the all-time greats in terms of where they are, the Slams they've won, the achievements that they're ticking off at a relatively young age. Alcaraz just wants to invent shots every time he takes to the tennis court, while Sinner says: 'I can do that as well' - so they're pushing each other. They've shared the last eight Grand Slams and there's no sign that is going to change anytime soon."
Henman: "The way these two have emerged and overtaken the group that were [Alexander] Zverev, [Daniil] Medvedev and [Stefanos] Tsitsipas, they've established themselves as clearly the two best players and at the age of 22 and 23 they've already played each other 15 times. Rivalries are so important and on the greatest stage. They're elevating each other's game and their relationship is so good. On and off the court they've got so much respect for each other, but they are different characters."
Robson: "The thing I'm loving the most is how they want to challenge each other at the moment. They want to bring out the best in each other in a way because they know they can't rest on their laurels. They know the five per cent increases are going to make all the difference and they're getting better on all surfaces."
Henman: "We certainly hope it's going to be Draper. For the first half of 2025 he was closing the gap up to number four while [Taylor] Fritz has been close. He's been in a Slam final, but there is a huge gap."
Overend: "Fonseca will continue his progress and we're ready for him to break through and challenge. Learner Tien has had an unbelievable year. The young American left-hander. He's proved that he can challenge at the top table."
Henman: "What he did in the Slams at the age of 37, 38 was absolutely amazing but I don't think over the course of five sets he has that physicality."
Robson: "The problem is that because he's not No 1 or No 2, he's going to have to play both Sinner and Alcaraz so it's not going to get any easier."
Robson: "If we're going to talk about people going 'bam', I think we have to talk about Anisimova with back-to-back Slam finals. The way her season came together from the summer onwards was just incredible. She recovered from love, love in a Wimbledon final to then back it up and make the US Open final."
Henman: "Her journey as well with the troubles that she's had off the court and stepping away from the game. The way she came through in the second half of the year was absolutely brilliant."
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