Emma Raducanu must become “physically more resilient” if she wants to compete with the best players in the world, Tim Henman has said.

Britain’s top-ranked woman has endured a difficult start to the year, making a disappointing second-round exit at the Australian Open and then dismissing her coach Francis Roig.

During an intriguing series of press conferences in Melbourne, Raducanu spoke of technical and tactical issues that had been frustrating her. But Henman argues that the real issues are simpler, and revolve around her physical level of preparation.

“I don’t buy into all the technical chat,” said the four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist. “It’s about her in my opinion, getting fitter, stronger, faster, hitting the ball harder, being able to do it for longer and these patterns of play.

“You look at the physicality of [Aryna] Sabalenka, [Iga] Swiatek, of Coco Gauff, Emma’s not at that level. To a certain extent, with her physique, she might not ever be at that level, but she’s got to close the gap.

“I would be focusing wholeheartedly on that physical side, so that she’s stronger, she hits the ball harder, and she’ll have more physical resilience. She won’t get those little injuries and setbacks.”

Henman’s comments come a week after Raducanu announced a lucrative brand partnership with Uniqlo, which is thought to be worth £2.6m. This is believed to exceed even the £2.25m which world No 1 Sabalenka receives from her own clothing sponsor Nike.

Yet despite Raducanu’s enduring appeal to brands and sponsors, her ability to withstand the physical demands of week-to-week tennis remains a significant issue. She comes into Indian Wells on a run of three straight defeats after contracting a chest infection around a month ago. Her blood pressure has been checked repeatedly in her recent losses.

“I was surprised on the one hand [by the split with Roig], but then we’ve seen that coaches don’t stay long with Emma,” Henman said at a Sky Sports tennis event.

“You reflect on the last four years, what she did in America, we’ve talked a lot about that. She’s 25 in the world but I think there’s a lot of us that believe she can be a lot better. It’s probably more from a physical point of view, she has to become physically more resilient to be stronger and faster, to compete with the biggest titles and the best players.”

Raducanu said last week that she is no longer looking for a coach after her working relationship with Roig ended. She went on to reach her first final since winning the US Open in 2021, at a WTA Tour event in Cluj, Romania. However, she looked exhausted as she won only two games in the final against a dominant Sorana Cirstea.

Over the past few days, Raducanu has been training in Indian Wells with the former British No 1 Mark Petchey, an old ally. Last year, Petchey guided Raducanu from Miami through the clay-court season and into Wimbledon, working around his TV commitments before stepping back again. The two are known to work well together, but Petchey does not expect to be as available for consultancy duty this season as he was last year.

Asked about Raducanu’s coaching situation, Henman told reporters that “I worked with three coaches in 15 years. I liked consistency and continuity and that’s not what Emma does.”

On the fitness and conditioning front, Raducanu started last season with the highly rated physical trainer Yutaka Nakamura in her corner, but he stepped away in the middle of the year. Her newest hire on that front is Emma Stewart, who used to work for British Rowing. Stewart was not at her first two tournaments following the Australian Open but did return for the Dubai 1000 event.

“I understand the way she wants to play, she’s an attacking baseline player,” Henman said. “If I could add one element to her game, it would only be on the physical side. To get stronger, to get faster, and hit the ball harder.

“Her game technically – people will try and point to changes, whether it’s a serve or a forehand, it’s nothing to do with that. She won the US Open – her game is good enough.

“Do you want to go down the line? Go down the line. Don’t miss, keep the ball in. In my mind, it’s not that complicated.”