Emma Raducanu, the 20-year-old British tennis prodigy who raced to a 2021 grand slam title without dropping a single set, is known for many things. She is known for her candid interactions with fans, her love for her maternal home country of China, her injury-prone body, and her changing of coaches.
The Brit has hopped around from one coach to another in a quest to rediscover the form that propelled her into the spotlight as an 18-year-old. Such a shift in training methodologies could spell disaster for some, but Emma has her own valid reasons for doing it.
Why does Emma Raducanu keep changing coaches?
Andrew Richardson was the coach who guided Emma Raducanu to her famous Grand Slam victory. Emma was a rising star at that time but faced challenges in her career after 2021, resulting in a continuous decline in her rankings due to her performance. To compound her difficulties, Emma struggled with injuries early in her career. However, it is her ongoing wrist and ankle injuries that have kept her confined at home, preventing her from returning to the tennis courts.
The current world No 280 parted ways with her fifth coach in two years after splitting with Sebastian Sachs in June and is yet to appoint a new coach. Raducanu previously worked with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and Dimitry Tursunov.
Emma Raducanu has been candid on her approach to coaching, saying she challenges coaches often by asking a lot of questions, something that many trainer find hard to handle.
“I ask my coaches a lot of questions. On certain occasions, they haven’t been able to keep up with the questions I’ve asked and maybe that’s why it ended,” she said.
“It’s something I’ve always done. I keep provoking and asking questions to coaches and challenging their thinking as well. I’m not someone that you can just tell me what do and I’ll do it, I need to understand why and then I’ll do it,” she added.
Emma is yet to hire a new coach, and is spending her time shuttling between the gym and the practice courts in order to effectively recover from injury and make a comeback next season.
Which Grand Slam has Raducanu won?
Emma Raducanu entered the 2021 US Open as a qualifier and achieved an extraordinary feat by winning the grand slam without dropping a single set throughout her remarkable journey. Prior to entering the main draw, she had to win three qualifying rounds. During her triumphant campaign, she defeated Stefanie Vogele, Zhang Shuai, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Shelby Rogers, Belinda Bencic, Maria Sakkari, and Leylah Fernandez to claim her first and, as of the current date, only grand slam trophy.
With the win, Emma entered the top 20 of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career. She also became the first British woman since Virginia Wade in 1968 to reach the US Open final. In the final, she secured victory with a 109-mph ace in what was the first all-teenage final. Remarkably, she did not drop a single set throughout the tournament, achieving this feat for the first time since Serena Williams in 2014.
Furthermore, she made history as the first qualifier to win the US Open in the Open Era. Her remarkable victory propelled her up the rankings by 332 places, bringing her to world no. 23. However, she made a surprising decision to part ways with Andrew Richardson from her coaching staff less than two weeks after her victory.
What are your opinions on Emma Raducanu’s strategy in changing coaches and her challenging attitude? Let us know in the comments section below.
