Ahead of her return, the ATP world No 11 threw his support behind Raducanu when discussing his top storylines for the start of 2024.
Three-time Grand Slam finalist Ruud said: “On the women’s side, is Emma fit again? Is she going to play Australia? She’s a potential to probably win another Slam I think, for sure. If she’s doing a good pre-season.”
The former world No 2 had been impressed with Raducanu’s game style after watching her win the 2021 US Open as a qualifier. He continued: “[It’s] explosive. And I think also if you see her moving around on the court she’s really good. When we watched her win the US Open, that was something that stood out.
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news.
“Her, [Iga] Swiatek, I think it’s always impressive with girls that are able to slide around the court because that’s something that is not easy. It requires to be fearless in a way and to be able to do it, it requires quite a bit of fitness.
“I saw she was hitting some incredible passing shots on the slide and stuff when she won so that is what impressed me and of course she has all the shots in the bag. I think she has potential because she can move well and hit the ball well.”
