Emma Raducanu is looking for a permanent coach once again, but she has drafted in some familiar faces to get her over another challenging period in her career after she disposed of the services of Vlado Platenik.
Raducanu’s latest coaching trial lasted just one match, as she informed Platenik that she was not happy with his input into her game after he joined her team for the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells earlier this month.
“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 the BBC.
“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.”
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Raducanu is on the hunt for yet another permanent coach after disposing of a host of advisers since her US Open win in 2021 and she has turned to a couple of familiar faces to give her some advice at the Miami Open.
Jane O’Donoghue has worked with Raducanu infrequently in recent years and answered the call from the 22-year-old to join her at the Miami Open in her coaching box.
In addition, former British Davis Cup player and respected broadcaster Mark Petchey has also joined Raducanu’s team, after he worked with the youngster prior to her iconic US Open win.
It is unclear whether O’Donoghue or Petchey would be willing to commit to a longer-term agreement with Raducanu.
Petchey, who is also a former coach of Andy Murray, is unlikely to watch away from his established role as a Tennis Channel contributor, but he is a big supporter of Raducanu and has spoken out against her critics.
“There’s no doubt that she is misunderstood,” Petchey told Betway in January. “If there was an Olympic event for cutting people down who have been successful, as a nation, we (Great Britain) would win the gold medal for it every four years.
“She’s had to deal with so much which must be incredibly hard for a youngster who is on the cover of every magazine and everybody’s favourite tennis player after the US Open. Obviously, when things don’t go from strength to strength, the attitudes of some people change.
“She’s already getting called a one-Slam wonder like she’s never going to win one again, and that must be incredibly difficult to deal with. People love to take pot shots at her but there’s a lot more to her than just being a tennis player.
“There is so much more to her personality, and she has so many other interests which people don’t realise.
“She’s not arrogant, but you’ve got to be confident. You’ve got to believe in yourself to exist and survive. Let alone thrive.
“Tennis is a ruthless hostile environment where you have at a Grand Slam, 127 other players who absolutely want to beat your brains out.
“They want the same dream that you’re fighting for, the same trophy and only one person is going to put a pair of hands on that silverware at the end of it. So, if you don’t back yourself, no one else is going to back you.”
Having friendly faces around her may be the best option for Raducanu right now, after she lived through a worrying experience in Dubai after what was described as a ‘fixated fan’ was removed from the stands of her match against Karolina Muchova.
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