‘I coached Raducanu at Wimbledon – this is what I really think of her’ | Tennis | Sport

Mark Petchey believes Emma Raducanu should be challenging to coach because of the extraordinary things she is trying to achieve. The British No. 1’s former coach says he enjoyed working with her, describing their relationship as phenomenal and marked by huge mutual respect.

Raducanu, 23, worked informally with Petchey as recently as Indian Wells, after she split with Francisco Roig, having spent much of last year being coached by him on a similar basis in the months after Nick Cavaday stepped back from her team due to health reasons. Petchey has always combined their ad hoc arrangement with serving as a commentator on the Tennis Channel, which prevents him from committing fully to coaching Raducanu, with whom he briefly worked before she first broke through at Wimbledon in 2021 and then won that year’s US Open.

Speaking exclusively to Express Sport about his experiences of coaching her and their relationship now, Petchey said: “I like working with Emma; she’s an awesome tennis player, so that’s number one. She and I have had a phenomenal relationship. It should be challenging because you’re trying to achieve extraordinary things. We have a huge mutual respect for her. When I’ve been on the court with her, I’ve never, ever come off it feeling like she hasn’t given herself or me the best possibility to improve.

“She’s been in a very unrealistic kind of life from 18, since, obviously, the fairy tale (US Open win). Anyone who thinks they would have done it differently is clearly just a keyboard warrior, because they would have also done many of the things Emma did. She is where she is, and the nice thing about Emma is that she’s got a lot of runway ahead of her to continue her career and do things the way that she should do them on her terms.

“If there’s one thing that I try to say to her is stop worrying about what other people are saying. I don’t give a s*** what people say about me, but it’s a lot harder when you’re in the spotlight and magnified like everything that she does.

“In tennis, we are very much like, ‘do things this way, play these many tournaments, do that,’ and I’m like, ‘no, that’s not the way that I think you operate best. You’re gonna get criticised anyway, so you know what works for you, you know what gets you excited, do those things, and when you get to the start gate for all the tournaments, just be the best prepared you can be.'”

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Petchey approves of Raducanu’s latest coaching hire, as she reunites with Andrew Richardson, five years after working together on a short-term interim basis when she won the US Open. ‘Flex’, as he is affectionaly know, also coached her when she was coming through, making him another figure to spend multiple stints coaching Raducanu.

Asked about their rekindled partnership, Petchey said: “I love it. It’s potentially going to be great, and it’s a place where she can go back to with awesome memories. ‘Flex’ did a great job with her over that period; they had ultimate success. I love that they’re back communicating and together.

“Obviously, whatever happened post the US Open, I wasn’t around, so I don’t know, but it’s been kind of hanging over her story. Like, ‘oh, she should never have got rid of Andrew’. So, they’re back together. I have huge hopes for it; I think it’s going to be great. I hope it’s going to be amazing for both of them.

“But what will be good is that if it doesn’t work, that part of it can go away, and everyone can stop saying, ‘Well, she should never have gotten rid of him.’ So, at some point, this felt very natural for it to happen, and I’m delighted it’s happened at this particular stage, on her best surface. I think it gives them the best chance to have a really positive kind of collaboration, and let’s hope it works.”

Mark Petchey, Racket Sports Ambassador speaking to us from Neilson’s new Inside Collection resort – Neilson x Mangia’s Torre del Barone Resort in Sicily.