Raducanu’s ex-coach: ‘You could tell straight away she was special’
One look at Emma Raducanu was enough to convince tennis coach Matt James he had a special talent on his hands.
A chance meeting with Nigel Sears, inset, then working with the 15-year-old on a consultancy basis, at Wimbledon three years ago led to Welshman James being offered the chance to coach her day to day.
“You could tell straight away that she’s pretty special,” James said. “The mindset and the maturity on the match court you don’t see very often, I hadn’t seen at all really. So that was quite exciting. You knew she could handle the big occasions and it’s just a case of making those big improvements on the court to back it up.
“Obviously she’s a really bright girl and you can tell she’s so determined to excel in everything she does. It’s no surprise that she's really good academically.”
James worked with Raducanu full-time for just more than two years, honing her game for senior tennis and helping her take her first steps on the professional tour before taking up a role as the Lawn Tennis Association's National Tennis Centre coach last October.
He is temporarily back as part of team Raducanu and sat courtside for her thrilling victory over Sorana Cirstea on Court One on Saturday.
He said: “The level that she played, I’ve seen that before, I’ve seen it on practice courts, so the tennis isn’t hugely a big surprise, but some of the shots under sheer pressure really did surprise me.
“We know that she likes the big stage, but she was still going into the unknown.
“This is the first time she’s fully committed to a tennis career, so it’s great she’s had success so quickly. But it was just a case of when. It was going to be inevitable with her that she was going to burst onto the scene.
“It’s probably a little bit sooner than I thought, because she hasn’t played many matches in the last year, but she’s really taken her opportunity.
“She’s three matches in and physically she looks strong. She’ll be worrying all the opponents now.”
Raducanu is now working full-time with Sears, whose services are paid for by the LTA as part of the teenager's Pro Scholarship Programme support for the best young players aged 16 to 24.