Emma Raducanu has just fixed her biggest mistake in time for Wimbledon but faces new issue | Tennis | Sport

For almost five years, whenever Emma Raducanu’s name has been mentioned, there has often been someone who asks: “Why did she fire the coach she won the US Open with?” Sometimes, it’s more of a demand. “She needs to rehire the coach who helped her win the US Open.”

Well, those calls have been answered. The British No. 1 has officially rehired Andrew Richardson, the man who was in her corner when she made history in Flushing Meadows in 2021 by winning a Grand Slam as a qualifier. Their partnership begins immediately, at the WTA 500 event in Strasbourg. Better yet, they’re set to work together for the French Open, Wimbledon, and beyond. It’s a real commitment.

Raducanu has known Richardson since she was a child, and he joined her team on the professional tour in July 2021 – just before that unprecedented US Open run. When the British No. 1 chose not to continue working with Richardson just a couple of weeks later, instead seeking someone with more WTA Tour experience, it sparked years of intense debate and scrutiny over her coaching decisions.

So, now that she has come full circle, will the criticism actually come to an end?

Raducanu’s return to competition in Strasbourg was always going to come under the microscope. The 23-year-old has not played a match in more than two months due to post-viral illness. Now, it will only be magnified by her reunion with Richardson.

Given that the last iteration of their partnership culminated in Raducanu becoming the only qualifier to win a Major title – aged 18, ranked 150th in the world, and playing just her fourth professional tournament, no less – this second coming could only create extra pressure. Because when you’ve set the bar so high together, what will be deemed as a success going forward?

The positive for Raducanu is that this reunion will no doubt give her some stability in what’s been an unsettling year. In 2025, she played the most matches she’d ever played in a single season, and it felt like the springboard for an even bigger 2026.

But a foot injury derailed her pre-season. Then she split from Spanish coach Francisco Roig in January. Then the viral illness took its toll, killing any momentum Raducanu found when she reached the Transylvania Open final in February, and she has missed tournaments in Miami, Linz, Madrid and Rome. The setbacks have kept on coming

As the years have passed since that night in New York, Raducanu’s priorities with coaches have shifted. In these difficult moments, she has often leaned on familiar, trusted faces who knew her before her US Open win.

One of her childhood coaches, Nick Cavaday, spent 14 months on her team before leaving in January 2025. Last year, Raducanu worked with Mark Petchey on an informal basis and immediately saw results, reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals.

So there is no better time for Raducanu to turn back to Richardson, in the process answering all the pleas that have come over the last five years. And the better news is that he will be in her team for the foreseeable future, with no trial basis or brief, informal partnership.

Earlier this year, tennis legend Martina Navratilova urged Raducanu to lean on the same mentor for a longer period, instead of changing things up. “You need to buy into the coach and stay there for a little bit longer,” she told Sky Sports.

“I think that’s the biggest mistake; she’s been through too many people, and then you get so many different ideas, and you don’t quite know which one to stick with.”

Raducanu has always done things on her own terms, and the pundits, fans, and critics alike won’t have influenced her decision to go full circle and bring Richardson back to her team. But this decision will no doubt appease them. It’s taken her five years to work her way back to the British coach. Now, the Brit can only hope that people will leave her alone and let them get on with it. Hopefully it brings more success.

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page