Just In: Emma Raducanu Has Had Enough as Brit Grows Fed Up with Coaches Who “Don’t Fit” — New Action Plan Emerges as She Looks to Take Control of Her Career and Finally Turn Her Troubling Run of Form Around
Emma Raducanu has said that she feels her natural way of playing has been ‘coached out’ of her, with the Brit eager to get back to that style.
The 2021 US Open announced her split from coach Francisco Roig after the Australian Open. The end of the partnership came about due to a disagreement over her playing style.
Raducanu is now on the lookout for her eighth permanent coach. For Indian Wells, she has reunited with former coach Mark Petchey on a temporary basis.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Raducanu has outlined the plan going forward: “Right now, it’s more about bringing my instincts back out, getting back in touch with myself,” she said.
I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn’t necessarily fit
So I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that’s something that has been coached out of me a little bit.
“I don’t necessarily want to have one coach in the role because anyone I bring in is straight away going to be scrutinised – even if it’s a trial.
“I might feel the pressure to stick with them, even if it’s not necessarily the right decision.
I would love to have a coach that works well, but I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be easy to find one person and they are going to check every box.
I definitely have my mind open to it. It’s just that I would rather someone not come in and tell me ‘let’s do this’, and I disagree with it but have to listen to them.
“So far Alexis [Canter] has been really good, but I am definitely going to tap into a few people here and there.”
The 23-year-old’s ranking means that she was given a bye into the second round of the tournament in California. She will play Anastasia Zakharova in the round of 64, after she overcame Ella Seidel in the first round.
