Emma Raducanu told to give up on divisive plan as Martina Navratilova makes plea | Tennis | Sport
Following her split from Roig, the world No. 28 has been travelling with hitting partner Alexis Canter and physiotherapist Emma Stewart, and she worked with Mark Petchey in Indian Wells. Although Raducanu isn’t in the market for a coach right now, 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova has urged the Brit to throw out that usual plan and commit to one trainer.
“I mean, I don’t know what’s the record for a coach – maybe six months! So, I wish that she would really pick whoever she wants to be her coach carefully and then stick with it,” Navratilova told Sky Sports.
“Give it a year because it takes a while to be comfortable with making changes and being able to incorporate the person into your game. The biggest thing I see, I think she could get fitter, which the coach has nothing to do with, but you know, the coach can only do so much. Pick the right coach and stick with him or her, please!”
Raducanu has worked with nine coaches since making her WTA Tour debut just under five years ago in Nottingham – Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday, Vladimir Platenik, Petchey, and Roig.
Her relationship with Cavaday lasted the longest, and they worked together for just over a year before he stepped away to spend more time at home while dealing with health issues. Raducanu then ran into Petchey ahead of last year’s Miami Open and they started working together informally.
That arrangement lasted a few months, but Petchey’s full-time role as a Tennis Channel pundit and commentator prevented him from working with Raducanu for an extended period. It’s no surprise, then, that the world No. 28 has since sought some guidance from Petchey since splitting from Roig.
While Navratilova wants Raducanu to stick to one coach, the 23-year-old doesn’t sound as keen. Earlier this month, she told BBC Sport: “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 has been really good, but I am definitely going to tap into a few people here and there.”
