Emma Raducanu has been urged to ‘commit to a coach’ for at least 12 months following her early Wimbledon exit. The young Brit breezed past Mimi Xu in the opening round before producing some of her best tennis in a while to defeat Marketa Vondrousova. However, her run came to an end in round three when she was beaten in straight sets by Aryna Sabalenka.
Raducanu has been working with Mark Petchey over the last few months, having linked up at the Miami Open in March. However, he recently stated that a permanent coaching role was out of the question due to his TV commitments. It leaves Raducanu searching for a longer-term solution ahead of the Washington Open, which gets underway next week.
Martina Navratilova, who worked as a pundit for the BBC during Wimbledon, believes Raducanu would benefit from choosing a new coach and sticking with them for at least a year.
“Commit to a year, if you like the person, if you know them and what they can bring to your game, then you need to really buy in and stick with it and make sure you’re doing your part as far as training, fitness, eating, all of that,” Navratilova told Sky Sports.
“She’s got the talent and she did play better tennis against Sabalenka. She’s going in the right direction now. She needs to stick with somebody longer.
“When you work with somebody, it takes a while for them to incorporate into their game and then get the results. When you start a new training regime, you don’t immediately go faster or get stronger.
“I just think she needs to really take charge of her life, make sure that she’s the one that’s making all the decisions for herself, and then stick with somebody.”
Raducanu has gone through nine coaching partnerships since winning the US Open four years ago. Finding a permanent match has proven difficult, but she showed tangible signs of improvement while working with Petchey.
Earlier this month, Petchey said: “I think at the moment we are a bit more short-term. Our situation is a little fluid at the moment. I am going to help her this week as much as I can. I have some other commitments I can’t get out of.
“We are very aware she needs a second coach to come on board and maybe just one coach, not me, as well. All I am trying to do is facilitate the best possible environment for Emma to produce the tennis she can.
“Whether that involves me or does not involve me is not a question that I’m worried about. We are just trying to find something that will be stable or good for her.”
