Andy Murray has explained what it would take for him to return to the world of coaching – and Emma Raducanu could be an ideal candidate to work with the two-time Olympic champion. Months after ending his playing career last year, Murray started coaching his old rival, Novak Djokovic.
The Brit followed Djokovic to tournaments in Australia, America and Spain before they parted ways in May. It will be a while before Murray is ready to get back in the coaching corner, but when he does, he will likely look closer to home.
The three-time Major winner sounds keen to work with a British player, especially one based in London, opening the door to a potential future partnership with Raducanu.
“Am I waiting for someone to call and ask me to coach them? No, no,” Murray said at the BMW PGA Pro-Am at Wentworth.
“Obviously with Novak I did it for a period and it was great experience and it was a unique opportunity to do it but there are certain things about the job. If you want to do it well, you need to spend time on the road.”
“If it is a British player that is London-based, it becomes easier because the off weeks, at least you are close to home. But if it is a player who lives elsewhere, it means a lot of time away from the family and I have no interest in doing that just now because I don’t want to be away from them.
“I think in the future I would probably do it again – it is not like I hated it so much that I wouldn’t do it. There were bits of it that I liked but for now I just don’t want to be on the road and I don’t want to do it.”
If and when Murray is ready to find a new protege, Raducanu would certainly fit the bill. The Bromley-based star often trains at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, and Murray will be able to relate to the extra attention and scrutiny Raducanu faces as Britain’s No. 1 player.
For now, Raducanu seems settled with her new coach, Francisco Roig. The 22-year-old hired Rafael Nadal’s former mentor ahead of the Cincinnati Open.
She immediately saw results, making it to the third round before losing a close three-set match to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Raducanu and Roig have since been out on the practice courts in Barcelona, and the world No. 34 has now taken a wildcard into next week’s WTA 500 tournament in Seoul.
She was initially meant to represent Britain at the BJK Cup Finals but withdrew from the team event to focus on her regular WTA Tour singles schedule, and to build on the work done with Roig.
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