Emma Raducanu looked to be getting closer to hiring her next permanent coach, but she is back at square one after choosing not to appoint the coach permanently after only one match.
Nick Cavaday parted with Raducanu after the 2025 Australian Open due to health and family reasons. He had been her coach for slightly over a year, the most prolonged spell she has had with anyone since turning professional.
Raducanu worked with a few coaches in a short-term capacity during her first few tournaments, including Jane O'Donoghue, who was back in her corner during the Briton's victory in the opening round of the Miami Open.
Although the 2021 US Open champion was a significant favorite against world No. 188 Sayaka Ishii, she dominated impressively throughout the match to get just her second win since the Australian Open.
Raducanu worked with Vladimir Platenik on a trial basis during the 2025 Indian Wells Open. The Slovakian has coached players like Daria Kasatkina, Lulu Sun, and Veronika Kudermetova during his career.
The iPaper reports that Raducanu had tried to collaborate with Platenik on several occasions in the past, but finally got the opportunity in Indian Wells. They had one session together before Raducanu lost in the first round to Moyuka Uchijima.
Platenik and Raducanu then worked together in Miami in preparation for the WTA 1000 tournament. However, according to the report, the 22-year-old felt their partnership was going in the wrong direction and canceled the trial after 14 days.
While Raducanu finding some stability by appointing a new long-term coach feels important, it also needs to be the right person. Making the wrong decision could set her back even further and be damaging.
Raducanu's history proves she is not afraid to dump a coach if it is not working. There was widespread amazement when she fired Andrew Richardson just a few weeks after winning the US Open with him as coach.
Since then, Raducanu has had short spells with figures such as Angelique Kerber's former coach, Torben Beltz, and Dimitry Tursunov, who helped Anett Kontaveit reach No. 2 in the world.
Cavaday's departure seemed like it came as a great disappointment to Raducanu. She openly discussed the rapport she had with him, who also coached the WTA star as a child.
The ongoing uncertainty surrounding her new coach would be challenging for any player to manage, but Raducanu also recently dealt with a man stalking her at three consecutive tournaments: the Abu Dhabi Open, Qatar Open, and Dubai Championships.
Raducanu cried and hid behind the umpire's chair during her Dubai Championships match against Karolina Muchova when she noticed the stalker in the crowd, who was then escorted away by the security team.
That person's actions led to Raducanu being offered additional security at the Indian Wells Open. Hopefully, the former Grand Slam champion has moved on from that incident and feels secure at tournaments.
Raducanu faces a significant challenge against the No. 8 seed Emma Navarro in the next round at the Miami Open. She will almost certainly need to play her best tennis to have a chance of prevailing.
