Emma Raducanu Told Her Biggest Problem And It's Not Her Coaching Situation
NewsTuesday, 01 April 2025 at 12:00
Emma Raducanu might have returned to winning ways recently, but she is still far away from being in an ideal situation when it comes to her tennis career.
Raducanu made it back to the Top 50 for the first time since 2022. She improved her ranking thanks to reaching the quarter-finals at the Miami Open, losing only to Jessica Pegula, who went on to reach the final.
The Brit's run showed that she still has what it takes to succeed at the biggest stage, but that doesn't mean that all of her issues are solved. For example, Raducanu currently doesn't have a permanent coach.
She parted ways with Vladimir Platenik after only 14 days, and she was working with her former coach Mark Petchey during the Miami Open. But it remains a question whether Petchey would be able to work with her also in the future.
Former British No. 1, Tim Henman, spoke to Sky Sports, discussing Raducanu's most recent run. According to Henman, the coaching situation is not an issue for the 2021 US Open champion. Instead, she must focus on becoming physically resilient to avoid injuring herself so often.
"She does it differently. She changes coaches. That isn’t necessarily what everyone else likes to do, but she is comfortable changing that up. For me, building physical resilience is most important because she has almost had her career back to front."
"Qualifying and winning that Slam without the foundation physically and her body was breaking down when she was in competition. The big positive this year is she has been able to compete more consistently and hopefully the results are going to come."
Henman, who, like Petchey, is a former player and became a pundit after his tennis career, knows that Petchey has a contract with the Tennis Channel. That doesn't make it possible for him to start working with Raducanu at the moment.
"Petch is working for the Tennis Channel and has a commitment to working for them. It will be interesting to see what Emma’s next move is. When she talks about having fun and being authentic, that gives her the opportunity to express herself on the court."
But regardless of whether Raducanu can work with Petchey or not, Henman was impressed by what he saw from the British player, and he thinks it might be a sign of things to come.
"She played some brilliant tennis in this tournament. She has been looking to build that momentum on the match court, and it’s great that she has competed a lot more this year after Australia."
"The results haven’t been there, but when you are putting in that hard work [on court] and in the gym with her physical trainer, I thought her movement both offensively and defensively looked fantastic."
"The turning point was the Emma Navarro match, which she won 7-6 in the third. To beat a top 10 player in that fashion would have given her a lot of confidence. The four wins she had will give her a lot of belief moving forward."
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