When Emma Raducanu had her fairytale in New York nearly five years ago, few would have predicted what came next.<\/p>\n
Andrew Richardson played a vital role in one of sport\u2019s greatest underdog stories, and then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.<\/p>\n
The former British player was brought in on a short trial between Wimbledon<\/a> and the US Open in 2021, and when that deal ended, they went their separate ways.<\/p>\n In 2023, Richardson told the Daily Mail<\/a>, \u201cThe fact of the matter is that I had a nine-week trial contract that both Emma and I thought was a good idea to see how we would get on, and it ran through to the end of the US Open, stopping immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a period of time after that when I was keen to re-negotiate the contract. I wanted to carry on, and I had a plan that I wanted to put in place for Emma. This thing about \u2018I wanted to go off and coach my son (Rocco)\u2019 is not true, but it seems to come up all the time.<\/p>\n Queen\u2019s Club: How many ranking points and prize money did Donna Vekic and Emma Raducanu earn?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Berlin Open withdrawals: Amanda Anisimova becomes sixth player to pull out of WTA event<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Want more from Tennis365? Add us as\u00a0<\/span>a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cAfter probably ten days to two weeks (following the Open) I didn\u2019t have a contract. We were in the process of re-negotiating and then I got a brief call from her agent telling me they were going to go in a different direction, and that was the end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Raducanu and her team are said to have wanted a coach with more experience going forward. They then turned to Torben Beltz but that was the first of many short-term stints.<\/p>\n Fast forward to the present, and Richardson is back in her camp in her 10th coaching appointment of her young career.<\/p>\n When asked if not continuing with the 52-year-old had been a mistake, Raducanu \u2013 who has a career-high ranking of 10th \u2013 somewhat defended her actions.<\/p>\n She told reporters in late May, \u201cEverything in my life changed upside down. I didn\u2019t really think I had a handle over the situation in the sense that I was being pulled left and right. I didn\u2019t really know what was going on.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of experiences over the last few years have taught me about what I didn\u2019t want. It taught me that I really value having people I trust and connect with around me. It\u2019s really nice to have that feeling back.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a coach, I think he really believes in me, and he\u2019s someone who doesn\u2019t necessarily get wavered or put off by results. He\u2019s very consistent, very solid. I\u2019m naturally more emotional in the sense that I want things to happen quickly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Prior to the Queen\u2019s Club final against Donna Vekic on Sunday, Raducanu\u2019s record with Richardson was 14 wins and just three losses.<\/p>\n The US Open<\/a> win and a 500 WTA Tour<\/a> final. The two biggest weeks of her career in just five tournaments \u2013 nearly five years apart.<\/p>\n Although Raducanu ended up losing to Vekic in a 6-0 7-6 defeat, her efforts at Queen\u2019s Club were hugely impressive.<\/p>\n Indeed, she was on double duty on Saturday to beat Kamilla Rakhimova and Iva Jovic in the quarter-final and semi-final, respectively.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Raducanu was moving well, her conditioning was going from strength to strength, she was striking the ball as cleanly as ever, and she had a hugely supportive \u2018gentle giant\u2019 cheering her on in her corner.<\/p>\n While it is still early days and their sample size is still very small, it really does beg the question, \u2018What might have been?\u2019 with Raducanu<\/a> and Richardson.<\/p>\n It is important to note that she was just 18 and her life was changed forever after that US Open miracle. Sponsors and other-worldly opportunities landed on her lap, while a constant media storm rained down on her.<\/p>\n Raducanu\u2019s guard went up, she was scrutinised more than ever before, and she had a target on her back. And in all that furore, it could be argued some wrong decisions were made.<\/p>\n But now she is back with Richardson, Raducanu needs to stick with the Director of the Ferrer Tennis Academy. Prior to this week, the Brit had barely played this season.<\/p>\n Andy Roddick has repeatedly said that Raducanu \u2013 who admitted to struggling with motivation this year \u2013 needs to get as many matches in as possible, rather than being very selective with her schedule.<\/p>\n This year has been a frustrating one, with the youngster getting waylaid by a virus for two months. But she, Richardson and her fans will hope this is the start of something special.<\/p>\n Now is her chance to make up for lost time, correct a near five-year long mistake, and embark upon a new future with Richardson firmly in it.<\/p>\n WHAT NEXT? Emma Raducanu schedule: Next tournament and draw as as she looks to continue good form after Queen\u2019s Club final<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n The post Emma Raducanu\u2019s five-year mistake becomes clear after Queen\u2019s Club run<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Emma Raducanu had her fairytale in New York nearly five years ago, few would have predicted what came next. Andrew Richardson played a vital role in one of sport\u2019s greatest underdog stories, and then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. The former British player was brought in on a short trial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2332"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2332\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}More WTA Tour News<\/strong><\/h2>\n