Emma Raducanu Seeks to Rediscover Her Natural Game
British No 1 Emma Raducanu is focused on regaining control of her "natural" tennis style, expressing a desire to avoid being confined by a single coaching approach or a style that does not feel authentic to her.
“I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that’s something that has been coached out of me a little bit,”
Raducanu told .“I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn’t necessarily fit. I don’t necessarily want to have one coach in the role because anyone I bring in is straight away going to be scrutinised – even if it’s a trial.“I might feel the pressure to stick with them, even if it’s not necessarily the right decision. I would love to have a coach that works well, but I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be easy to find one person and they are going to check every box.”Raducanu is currently competing at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where a strong performance could improve her world ranking, which currently stands at 24th. The 23-year-old has faced challenges recently, including entering the Australian Open underprepared due to a foot injury, parting ways with coach Francisco Roig, reaching her first final since the US Open in Romania, and then battling illness.
Recent Coaching Changes and Support
Her recent struggles followed a defeat by Anastasia Potapova, after which Raducanu openly expressed dissatisfaction with her performance under Roig’s guidance. At Indian Wells, she is receiving assistance from Mark Petchey, who previously served as an ad hoc coach for several months during the previous spring and summer. Additionally, her hitting partner Alexis Canter continues to provide daily support.
Despite these arrangements, Raducanu remains open to hiring another full-time coach in the future.
“I definitely have my mind open to it,”
she said.“It’s just that I would rather someone not come in and tell me ‘let’s do this’, and I disagree with it but have to listen to them. So far Alexis has been really good, but I am definitely going to tap into a few people here and there.”Expert Opinions on Raducanu’s Development
While much attention is focused on Raducanu’s coaching situation, former world No 4 and compatriot Tim Henman believes that her priority should be physical conditioning and consistent practice.
“It’s still too stop-start,”he said.“She has to become physically more resilient to be stronger and faster to then compete with the biggest hitters and the best players.“I understand the way she wants to play. She’s an attacking baseline player. If I could add one element to her game, it would only be on the physical side – to get stronger, faster, to hit the ball harder.“You look at the physicality of a [Aryna] Sabalenka, a [Iga] Swiatek, a Coco Gauff, a [Elena] Rybakina, Emma’s not at that level. And to a certain extent, with her physique, she might not ever be at that level but she’s got to close the gap. She’s [24] in the world but I think there’s a lot of us that believe she can be a lot better.”
