Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu are Britain’s two highest ranked players.
The ATP Indian Wells champion has occupied that spot since 2024, while the WTA’s world number 40 recently took the position from Katie Boutler.
They are leading the charge for the British players at the All-England Club in 2025 and they are keen to make a big impression.
Despite being on their respective journeys, there is something Tim Henman has identified about the pair that they previously had in common.
What does Tim Henman think Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu previously had in common?
Draper is now at a career-high ranking of number four, while Raducanu has climbed back into the top 50 after several injury issues, including double wrist and ankle surgery in 2023.
She seemed to struggle with the physicality that it took to play on the WTA Tour, but Raducanu is feeling stronger and is playing more matches. She has already played 30 matches in 2025, in comparison to 36 throughout last season.
Draper, whose body was breaking down due to injury more often, has also improved his fitness levels and this is something Tim Henman has noticed about both players.
“Now I like the way that she [Raducanu] is starting to put her team in place,” Henman told the BBC. She has really built up a lot more physical resilience, because before she would play two or three tournaments and then they’d be an injury and it would set her back and she couldn’t gain that momentum.
“But if you look at her calendar and competitive tournaments this year, she has played a lot. She hasn’t always won but she has been out on tour competing so much and learning and improving.
“Jack’s in a great place, he’s played some brilliant tennis. He’s shown the physical resilience we mentioned about Raducanu, we mentioned her body has broken down from time to time Draper was in a similar spot. But now he has built that physical resilience. The matches he played in Australia were a big turning point.
“To play three successive five-set matches to give him the confidence that he could come through in those difficult situations and then moving to the hard at Indian Wells and winning his first Masters 1000 title, he has just elevated his whole game.”
Who are Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu playing next at Wimbledon?
Draper won his opening match at Wimbledon for the loss of just five games after his opponent Sebastian Baez retired early in the third set.
He will take on Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the second round, who reached the final at SW19 back in 2014.
Raducanu also has a tricky match, as she will compete against 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.
Raducanu has won two of three previous matches against the Czech player, including at Wimbledon in 2021 when she reached the fourth round.
But Vondrousova is on a six-match winning streak and won the Berlin Open before heading to SW19. The crowd will be treated to an exciting matchup, and it remains to be seen who will emerge victorious.
