Emma Raducanu’s former coach Mark Petchey, who parted ways with the Brit earlier this summer, has had his say on whether she can win another Grand Slam title. Raducanu made history when she won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier, aged just 18 at the time, but she has not lifted another trophy since.
The British No. 1 is now making progress with new mentor Francisco Roig, but she suffered a bruising defeat to ninth seed Elena Rybakina at the US Open. And Petchey believes it won’t be “easy” for Raducanu to get back to winning ways.
The world No. 34 had a positive North American hard-court swing, reaching the semi-finals of the Washington before making it to the third round in Canada, Cincinnati and Flushing Meadows.
At the US Open, Raducanu won her first two matches in roughly an hour each, and barely dropped any games. But she had a bruising reality check in round three, as former Wimbledon champion Rybakina thrashed her 6-1 6-2.
Reflecting on the match, Petchey thought it gave Raducanu motivation to keep working on her game with her new coach, Roig.
Speaking to tennis betting site BetVictor, Petchey said: “What it said to me is everything that I hope people can see about Emma’s style of play. We’re in an era of big hitters. We talk about the pace of shots, from both Sabalenka and Anisimova.
“From Emma’s point of view her best style of winning matches is up on the baseline redirecting the ball, moving it around, trying to get the opponent to move before they get a chance to set on the ball.
“That’s obviously something that she’s going to have to keep getting better at. She can’t get taller; she’s not going to suddenly have a Rybakina serve that’s going to get her as many free points.
“But that serve can get more accurate, it can get her set up to play a little bit better as time goes by.”
Although it will be tough for Raducanu to overcome the world’s top players and their powerful aggression, Petchey still believes it’s possible.
“But it’s one of those matches which just goes to show you know that it’s not going to be easy to win another Major,” he added.
“But that’s what’s going to be so satisfying when she finally does. These big hitters, these power players that make life difficult for her where they do rush her are going to make things tricky for her.
“But it’s just motivation for her to keep working on the things that she has been doing.”
Raducanu has since been out on the practice courts with Roig in Barcelona and will put her game to the test next week after taking a wildcard into the WTA 500 event in Seoul.
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