Emma Raducanu makes surprising confession after splitting from ninth coach in five years | Tennis | Sport
Emma Raducanu has revealed that she is not actively looking for a coach following her split with Francisco Roig last month. Depending on how you count it, the British No. 1 has now parted ways with nine different coaches since making her tour-level debut in Nottingham almost five years ago. But she’s in no rush to find a new mentor for now.
The world No. 25 has been unveiled as Uniqlo’s newest global brand ambassador, leaving Nike behind for the Japanese clothing brand, and will debut her new kit in Indian Wells next week. While it’s all change on the apparel front, Raducanu is happy to keep her team as is for now.
Since parting ways with Spanish coach Roig, who previously spent years working with Rafael Nadal, Raducanu has been travelling with Alexis Canter – who also briefly assisted her last summer – and physiotherapist Emma Stewart, who previously worked with British Rowing and the WTA.
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Speaking in Tokyo as her Uniqlo deal was announced, the former US Open champion said she wasn’t seeking a new head coach. “Right now I wouldn’t say I’m actively looking for a coach,” she told the Guardian.
“I think I had a great experience with Francis in terms of how we got on so well … the rapport was great. I think in the end, we just weren’t aligning on certain key aspects. But we still maintain a really good relationship. Right now I have Alexis in my corner. He knows me as a person. He knows me as a player. And I’ve actually had some success with him in the past year in Washington and Cluj … so it’s going well.”
With Canter in her corner on an ad-hoc basis, that already seems to be paying off. The Brit reached the final of the WTA 250 in Cluj earlier this month – her first appearance in a final since winning the 2021 US Open – and with the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami looming, she’s happy to keep taking care of things herself, with her small team.
“I know the drills that I need to be doing right now in this moment in time… just repetition of doing those key fundamentals. I think I want to go back to that and [develop] a more aggressive style of playing,” Raducanu added.
The 23-year-old’s run in Cluj was marred by a chest infection she picked up during the tournament, and she suffered a one-sided defeat in the final. She still travelled to the Middle East to compete in back-to-back WTA 1000 events, but retired in Doha and lost her opening match in Dubai.
“In Cluj, I picked up like a virus, I think, at the start of the tournament. So I was dealing with that and the after-effects… I had really long effects for the last three weeks. I’ve been trying to clear them. So the Middle East trip was very difficult for me. I’m getting ready for Indian Wells and just trying to get back to full health. And I still have a bit of time, so I’m just looking forward to doing my best to be ready for that,” she explained.
