Emma Raducanu is looking for a new coach…again

BBC Sport running another story about Emma Raducanu, the British tennis player US Open Champion in 2021, once again looking for a new coach.

Emma Raducanu is ranked 24 in the world (March 2026), her highest ranking since 2022.
Raducanu to ‘tap into a few people’ over coaching — BBC Sport, March 5, 2026

Raducanu parted company with coach Francisco Roig after January’s Australian Open — the Spaniard was the seventh full-time coach Raducanu had worked with since her US Open win.

There is an unpleasant undercurrent to a lot of the comments BTL, and not a lot of understanding of how player-coach relationships can go wrong. I do wonder how many of them have ever coached, at any level, let alone a Grand Slam winner?

There is a lot of criticism of Raducanu’s intransigence — she must be difficult to work with, if she can’t stick with a coach for any length of time. But it must be a possibility that Radacanu has been too compliant, trying to modify her game as each new coach tells her.

Ironically, if she can’t find “the one” coach who can deliver exactly the right words & tactics (right for her), every time, perhaps a part-time arrangement will work better. Find a coach prepared to park his or her ego, not try to change the player, and just help Raducanu be her best version of herself.

She did won the US Open, after all!

Comments

2 responses to “Emma Raducanu is looking for a new coach…again”

  1. bowlingatvincent Avatar

    Think it’s likely that Radacanu is a pain in the arse… but as you suggest, this means that she needs a coach who is right for her – someone who can park their ego and deal with the human in front of them. Her results over recent times suggest she may be under-achieving: injuries may or may not be a factor. Either way, a coach who is tolerant, wise and determined to help *should* be able to make a difference. The player, of course needs to bring the very best of intentions.

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    1. Andrew Beaven Avatar

      She might well be a pain in the arse…she’s also an US Open Champion. In an individual sport, I think the most important role of the coach is to keep the star player happy!
      And as no-one is going to be happy losing, change will happen, but only when old methods are shown to fail, not just because the coach says so.
      Maybe if she had stayed fit, player her way and then lost, Raducanu would be amenable to change. But she never seems to play fully fit for very long.

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