Raducanu can’t keep hiring and firing coaches
EMMA RADUCANU is far more than a one-hit wonder — I really believe that. There is so much more to come from her. She’s just having a little problem at the moment.
She needs to make sure she does not become the Watford of tennis and hire and fire a different coach every two months.
Raducanu worked with Nigel Sears for her run to the Wimbledon fourth round last year. Then she won the US Open with Andrew Richardson on a trial basis — but even helping a qualifier win a Grand Slam without dropping a set wasn’t enough to earn him the full-time role.
Since then, she’s already gone through Jeremy Bates and Torben Beltz. She didn’t even bring a coach to Roland Garros, where she was knocked out in the second round. She’s said she wants to adopt a ‘new training model’ which involves her taking bits and bobs from various experts and consultants.
I disagree with that approach completely. Some people will look at it and say that Raducanu is merely soaking up what she can from one coach then moving on to the next, and doing the same again. More people, more things to learn.
That is absolute codswallop.
You need to find someone who you can bond with and then stay with them. Tennis is about bonding. You are a team. Your coach should understand you, know how you work, what you need and when you need it.
You need to be able to turn to them about anything. They need to know how to pick you up when you’re down. It’s as much about what happens off the court as on it. It’s more than just tactics and training.
You cannot get that by having someone new on the scene every two or three months. You’re starting the whole engine again — it doesn’t work that way.
Hopefully, she’ll get rid of that habit — though I’m not sure if it’s her habit or that of others around her — because her ability is amazing. We are lucky to have seen another Grand Slam champ.
It may not happen again for a while, but I do believe there’s much more to come.