Emma Raducanu is in talks with Mark Petchey over a full-time coaching role.
Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, has been without a permanent coach since parting ways with Nick Cavaday in January, but Petchey has emerged as the front-runner having trained with the British No 2 during the pandemic summer of 2020.
Petchey temporarily joined Raducanu’s team at the Miami Open – alongside long-time mentor Jane O’Donoghue – where she reached the quarter-finals.
Petchey is a regular contributor to the Tennis Channel, but his impact during the Miami Open was effective as Raducanu enjoyed wins over top-10 player Emma Navarro and Qatar Open champion Amanda Anisimova before losing to fourth seed Jessica Pegula.
Petchey (right) and Jane O’Donoghue watch Raducanu during the Miami Open
When asked what Petchey had brought to the team, Raducanu said: “I think just a relaxed environment, but focused when needs to be.
“I’m someone who works really hard and can be really intense, but sometimes too intense. I guess in that way it’s harder to be extremely focused when you need to be on the match court because you’re focused from the first minute to the last.
“So I think just being able to switch off and have fun with them and play Spikeball before the match, and we just create certain routines. Yeah, they bring small doses of happiness that I guess just keep you going, the small things.
“Just having them around, people that I really trust, yeah, I think that’s probably when I started feeling a bit better off the court. That translated on the court. I was freer.”
Who is Mark Petchey?
Sky Sports Tennis’ Tim Henman is hopeful for titles from Radacanu in 2025, but says she’s had her career from back to front
Raducanu is keen to create a bubble as she looks for a permanent coaching presence alongside fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura.
Petchey reached world No 80 in August 1994, while his best performance at a Grand Slam came at Wimbledon in 1997 when he lost to Boris Becker in the third round.
Petchey, who coached an 18-year-old Andy Murray – during which time he won his first ATP Tour title, decided to move away from working with professional players after relocating to America and taking up a role with the Tennis Channel.
He has also previously worked for Prime, ITV, BBC, Sky Sports, Tennis Australia and others.
Highlights of Raducanu’s clash with Jessica Pegula in the quarter-finals of the Miami Open
Raducanu’s coaches
Raducanu won the 2021 US Open working alongside Andrew Richardson
Raducanu stopped working with Nigel Sears after her run to the second week of Wimbledon as a wild card in 2021 and then parted company with Andrew Richardson shortly after her fairytale run in New York.
She also worked alongside Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs and Cavaday, while her most recent coach lasted just one match with Vladimir Platenik parting ways shortly after the 22-year-old crashed out in the opening round at Indian Wells.
The Slovakian coach said the British star had been “feeling stressed”.
“I totally understand Emma, she’s not in an easy position. The world is looking at her after the US Open and everybody is expecting, including herself, what she is going to do next,” Platenik told BBC Sport.
“So for me it’s absolutely understandable that she’s under a lot of pressure. She told me she was feeling stressed.
“There are no hard feelings from my side. She finished the relationship in a fair way, maybe too quickly, but this is tennis, this is sport. We need to respect that.
“She was not feeling OK, and that was her decision. I didn’t want to go into deeper communication about that. I think the player needs to feel good, and the player needs to make a decision. Sometimes you make a good decision, and sometimes bad.”
Where could Raducanu play next?
Take a look back at Raducanu’s incredible win at the 2021 US Open…
Raducanu could make her next appearance at the Madrid Open where she has a direct entry to the WTA 1000 event which takes place at La Caja Magica from April 21 to May 4.
She opted out of playing for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifying competition, while she has withdrawn from this week’s WTA 250 event in Rouen in order to concentrate on a training block.
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