Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has urged Emma Raducanu to copy Aryna Sabalenka’s approach and maintain a long-term relationship with her next coach.
World No 28 Raducanu is currently without a permanent coach, following her split from Francisco Roig after a disappointing Australian Open campaign in January.
The Brit and Roig had only started working together last August, and Raducanu’s split from the Spaniard was the latest in a long line of ultimately short-lived partnerships.
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Since making her WTA Tour debut in 2021, the former US Open champion has worked with a string of coaches, including, but not exclusively, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, and Dmitry Tursunov, with her partnership with Nick Cavaday the only one to last longer than last year.
In the aftermath of her split from Roig, Raducanu has worked with long-time confidantes Alexis Canter and Mark Petchey, and revealed earlier in March that she was not focused on looking for “one coach” to step in and work with her.
However, former world No 7 Bartoli believes this is the wrong approach and has urged Raducanu to look to Sabalenka for inspiration.
Sabalenka has been coached by Anton Dubrov since 2020, and has gone on to reach world No 1 and win four Grand Slam singles titles under his guidance.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bartoli claimed that Raducanu would not improve if she were unable to stick with a coach for a long-term period.
“For Emma to keep changing coaches is a difficult topic because you need to have some sort of stability,” said Bartoli.
“When you look at the coaching system, Sabalenka has had the same coach for such a long period of time, and I think for Emma it’s about trying to find the right fit!
She added: “I do strongly believe she will need to find someone she can trust for a long period of time if she wants to improve.”
Following her split from Roig, Raducanu reached her first final since the 2021 US Open at the Transylvania Open in Cluj this February.
However, the Brit sustained an illness that affected her across the Middle East swing, and which then saw her withdraw from the Miami Open after a disappointing Indian Wells campaign.
Raducanu has not yet confirmed or announced any new coaching hire, but she is set to return to action at the WTA 500 Linz Open next week.
It will be the 23-year-old’s first clay-court event of 2026, with Raducanu then set to play the WTA 1000 events in Madrid and Rome before the second Grand Slam event of the season at Roland Garros.
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The post Emma Raducanu told to follow Aryna Sabalenka’s plan as coaching saga addressed by Wimbledon champion appeared first on Tennis365.
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