Emma Raducanu has reportedly been given the green light to employ Mark Petchey as her coach for this summer’s Wimbledon Championships.
Petchey is currently working for the Tennis Channel as their TV commentator but the broadcaster has reportedly allowed the 54-year-old to work with Raducanu in the summer.
The former player was in Raducanu’s box in Miami, which saw the 22-year-old reach the quarter-final, her best performance in a tournament this year, and it appears their work together will continue for the foreseeable future.
Raducanu has already been through a number of coaches this year with Nick Cavaday stepping aside due to health issues before Vlado Platenik lasted just one match.
Petchey, who also works with Amazon Prime, ITV and the BBC, was in the crowd for Raducanu’s Miami exploits but is not officially part of her coaching team.
The tournament in Miami was a welcome return to form for the Briton after she reached the first WTA 1000 quarterfinal of her career.
“Despite losing today I can take some good positives from this week and look forward,” Raducanu said.
“I think I just need to take a beat and kind of reevaluate what I’m doing. This week it was good but I need to kind of just figure things out and then I’ll make a plan from there.”
Petchey has previously spoken in support of Raducanu, suggesting the criticism of her was too harsh.
“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.
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“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.”
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