Beaten Em: I need a coach
CHAMP GOES PUBLIC WITH JOB AD
SHOCK US Open champ Emma Raducanu has issued a public appeal for a top coach after losing the first match since her Flushing Meadows triumph.
The British No.1 became the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam without even dropping a set.
But the teenager, who wowed New York with her fearless hitting, made a catalogue of errors in the Californian desert as she lost 6-2 6-4 to world No.100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the BNP Paribas Open.
It is hardly a crisis for the new tennis superstar who shot to worldwide fame last month.
Yet the decision to split with Andrew Richardson, who guided her to victory in the US Open, now seems bizarre before appointing a new coach.
The LTA’S Jeremy Bates worked with Raducanu in Indian Wells this week but the search for a new coach – and proven winner on the WTA Tour – has added urgency.
World No.22 Raducanu said: “I would love to have someone with great experience right now by my side so if any experienced coaches are out there looking, you know where to find me.
“Jeremy Bates is here just to help me out with this week but he was here with Katie Boulter.
Guided
“So I don’t know what’s going to happen next but I’m sure that my team and everyone will be able to try and find a solution.
“And yeah, I wasn’t joking – if anyone knows any experienced coaches...”
Proven winners like Darren Cahill, Sven Groeneveld, Thomas Hogstedt would fit the job description. But Raducanu, who is guided by her father, Ian, and an IMG management team, also parted company with Nigel Sears after reaching the Wimbledon fourth round.
Former world No.1 Lindsay Davenport said: “Nigel Sears has a lot of experience. That ended after Wimbledon. Then
Andrew Richardson, who is a former player. The important thing is to get it right next time.
“You don’t want to be on a continuingly rotating carousel.
“All of that will need to be figured out before she starts the 2022 campaign.”
Raducanu played down the absence of Richardson and physio Will Herbert from her team as she lost in 85 minutes to the tricky Belarussian on a blustery evening on the slow Stadium 1 court.
“Will and Andrew definitely played a huge part in New York, but I don’t think it affected me because I didn’t really look up at the box too often,” she added.
Raducanu won 10 consecutive matches at Flushing Meadows but she has yet to win a set in a regular WTA event.
And the 18-year-old will have to get used to playing with a big target on her back every time she works out on court as a Major champion.
“I am still learning,” she said. “I just need to cut myself slack.
“I’m looking at the big picture. This is going to be very small in the long term.”