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The Independent
05-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Emma Raducanu leaves Wimbledon with boosted confidence – but also coach question
Emma Raducanu departs Wimbledon confident she is on the right path but with her coaching situation again up in the air. The 22-year-old had the Centre Court crowd believing in another fairytale as she fought toe-to-toe with Aryna Sabalenka before the world number one eventually battled to a 7-6 (6) 6-4 third-round victory. Raducanu smiled through tears in her post-match press conference as she balanced disappointment at the result with the satisfaction of having come so close. Central to Raducanu's good run over the last few months, though, has been coach Mark Petchey, who took a break from his media commitments to be with her full-time during the grass-court season having worked on an ad hoc basis since they first linked up in Miami in March. 'It's very difficult,' said Raducanu when asked where the partnership goes from here. 'He obviously also has his commentating commitments. He agreed to help me until the end of Wimbledon and then we see from there because he gave up some work to work with me here, which I really appreciate and I'm grateful for. 'That's a conversation that we need to have after a few days and the dust settles a little bit.' If Raducanu does not continue with Petchey, it will be back to the drawing board, and the former US Open champion's difficult run after splitting from former coach Nick Cavaday in January was another demonstration that she plays her best tennis when she has people she trusts around her. Raducanu's childhood coach Jane O'Donoghue, who has helped out when Petchey has been unavailable, is returning to her day job in finance after taking a sabbatical and is also unlikely to travel as much. A reunion with Cavaday could be a possibility, with the 39-year-old now recovered from the health problems that forced him to step away. He was alongside Petchey when Raducanu played at Queen's Club and may yet take a more active role again. Raducanu admitted the Sabalenka loss is likely to take her a few days to get over, with the defeat also meaning she will slip to British number three behind Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal. The goal for all three women must be to try to push their ranking up into the top 32 so they are seeded at grand slams and not so much at the whim of the draw. Statistics provided by IBM show that the improvements Raducanu has been trying to make are having an effect, with the Kent player serving more accurately than last year and being more aggressive, with 16 per cent of her shots resulting in winners in 2025 compared to 13 per cent 12 months ago. She should have a good chance of making gains in the build-up to the US Open, with her next tournament scheduled to come in Washington later this month. Last year she reached the quarter-finals in the American capital having chosen not to play in the Olympics but then suffered a minor injury that prevented her playing until New York, where she lost in the first round. Raducanu will carry belief but not over confidence on to the hard courts, saying: 'It gives me confidence that I'm not as far away as I perhaps thought before the tournament. 'I think previously, when I was playing those top-five players, it was pretty convincing, the loss. So I think to really push Aryna, it does give me confidence. 'But, at the same time, I feel like grass for me is a great surface. It's a bit of a leveller in that sense. So I think taking it on to a different surface where it's a lot more lively in America is another challenge in itself. 'There's still a lot of things that I want to do better, a lot of things I want to improve to really solidify my game so that in the big moments I can back myself a little bit more.'
The Independent
03-07-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Emma Raducanu takes tips from men's number one ahead of facing Aryna Sabalenka
Emma Raducanu sought inspiration for her clash with Aryna Sabalenka by watching the other big-hitting world number one. After training for 70 minutes at Wimbledon's Aorangi Park practice courts on Thursday afternoon, Raducanu sat with coach Mark Petchey and observed Jannik Sinner's warm-up session. Raducanu has been making an effort to pay closer to attention to the skills of her fellow players, saying: 'I'm trying to learn by osmosis. He (Sinner) is so effortless when he hits the ball.' Trying to squeeze everything she can out of her Wimbledon experience this year has been a theme of the 22-year-old's run so far, with Raducanu overjoyed about her performance in beating former champion Marketa Vondrousova on Wednesday. While she can never go back to the carefree teenager she was prior to her US Open triumph, she appears to be finding a balance that allows her to enjoy the journey while pushing for the best destination she can. The British number one is also clearly relishing having people she trusts in her corner, with Petchey, who first helped her remodel her serve back in 2020, accompanied on the practice court by Raducanu's friend and mentor Jane O'Donoghue. O'Donoghue left her coaching career to work in finance but has taken a sabbatical from her job to help Raducanu out in tournaments around the world. In the stands, meanwhile, are a group of Raducanu's friends from childhood, many of whom live in the United States but who use Wimbledon for a reunion each summer. 'I was out there with my friends,' said Raducanu after beating Vondrousova in one of her best performances at the All England Club. 'It's so rad. I have all of them here in one place. They've been my rock through everything. They're the closest people to me outside of my family. That was really special. 'I had the same sort of routine last year. I just really cherish these moments because we know how hard it is week to week playing on the tour. 'When we're here in this sort of environment feeling at home, it's so special. I think it's important to take it in. You don't know the next day how it's going to go.' Taking on Sabalenka is the ultimate challenge in women's tennis at the moment, with the Belarusian holding a dominant lead at the top of the rankings and bidding to reach a fourth grand slam final in a row. Raducanu looked relaxed in practice, drilling service returns in preparation for what will be a barrage of pace coming at her. They have played once before, in Indian Wells last spring, when Sabalenka won in straight sets but in a close enough contest to give Raducanu encouragement. The top seed has been tested in her first two matches, while the home crowd on Centre Court will play their part as well. 'Emma is playing much better tennis since last year, I have to say,' said Sabalenka. 'She improved. You can see that she's getting back on track. Also facing British at Wimbledon, I'm not sure I prefer that.' Finding the right balance between attack and defence will be key for Raducanu, who said: 'I definitely think playing Aryna, she's number one in the world for a reason. 'You can't really do nothing or give nothing balls to her. I'm going to have to be aggressive but pick my moments and not kind of be overly (aggressive). I think you can fall into that trap, too. 'I don't think I'm going to go out there and out-power her. I think I'm going to have to try and be creative, as well.' Raducanu is one of three British players who will play third-round matches on Friday, with Sonay Kartal and Cameron Norrie both taking to Court One. Kartal, who is bidding to reach the last 16 at a slam for the first time, faces French qualifier Diane Parry while Norrie's reward for knocking out Frances Tiafoe is a meeting with unseeded Italian Mattia Bellucci.
Times
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Emma Raducanu's secret Wimbledon weapon: a City banker from Wigan
Amid all the chopping and changing in Emma Raducanu's coaching box through the years, there is one person who has made more appearances than anyone else since her breakthrough here at Wimbledon in 2021. It is a fine effort considering that Jane O'Donoghue often has to take leave from her day job in the City to help out Britain's only active grand-slam singles champion. This is an arrangement like no other on the tour. O'Donoghue will regularly be drafted in by Raducanu to, in effect, work as an assistant coach, most often on home soil but also sometimes away from home. One overseas trip this year was to Miami, where Raducanu was in need of some help after deciding to end a trial with the Slovakian Vladimir Platenik only two weeks in. O'Donoghue's friendship with Raducanu goes back to her days as the LTA's women national coach between 2009 and 2019. The 42-year-old from Wigan, who reached the world's top 200 as a player, often worked with Raducanu during her childhood, building close ties which have continued to this day. A career change came for O'Donoghue in 2019 when she used her master of business administration degree to take up a full-time role with the Royal Bank of Canada in its global client coverage team. Since last year she has worked for CACEIS, an asset servicing firm, as a director of UK client coverage. Attending Raducanu's matches requires a combination of permission from her managers and some strategically placed holiday time. She has successfully peeled herself away this week, attending Raducanu's first-round win against Mimi Xu on Monday, and is expected to return to the box for the second round against Marketa Vondrousova on Wednesday. 'For me, she's a great friend,' Raducanu said. 'She just brings a lot of support, someone who knows me inside out, better than I know myself. Just to have her there, her belief and confidence in me, it means a lot. Less so on the tennis side, even though she's very knowledgeable about the opponents. But I think it's more just support. I love seeing her there in the box.' Raducanu, 22, has a heavy reliance on trusted faces from her youth. There is a pattern in which she often reunites with old coaches — her temporary head coach Mark Petchey formerly worked with her in 2020. But O'Donoghue is called up so often that it begs the question as to whether Raducanu could permanently tempt her back from the City to the tennis court. 'I think she's doing so well in her career there,' Raducanu countered. 'It's a very big ask for me, and I'm not sure if that's something that I want to [do] because we have a great friendship. It is different when you mix friendship with having someone on your team full-time. I really want to protect our relationship.' Petchey, who is probably best known to tennis viewers as a commentator and pundit for more than 20 years, is also in effect on secondment. Over the past three months the 54-year-old former British No1 has been balancing his television work for American broadcasters with Raducanu's coaching needs, although he has been able to dedicate more time to her in recent weeks because of fewer media commitments during the grass-court season. 'I'd give him 11 out of 10,' Raducanu said. 'He's been like everything the last few months for me. I've really enjoyed being around him. He's helped me so much on all fronts, tennis, off court. 'I think the most memorable moment was one hike we did in Los Angeles. We walked for 2½ hours. We spoke. It was one of those really deep conversations where I was like, 'OK, there are certain things I need to do better.' It was just one that I could take away and really reflect on.' Known for the ruthless way in which she can quickly cut loose coaches, there has been a lesser noticed departure in recent weeks. Nick Cavaday, who worked with Raducanu for 15 months until January this year before he resigned for health reasons, agreed to return for the British grass swing, but lasted only one tournament at Queen's before disappearing prior to Eastbourne. 'He helped me in the week before Queen's because Mark was in Paris, and carried that work on through Queen's, but then I had already agreed to do the full grass season with Mark,' Raducanu explained. There has also been a temporary change involving her fitness trainer. Yutaka Nakamura, who was hired at the end of last year, went back to Japan two months ago because of personal reasons and has not yet returned to her team. 'I'm working right now in the meantime with Ian Aylward and the LTA,' Raducanu said. 'They've helped me a lot in the last few weeks, so I'm just continuing the work with them.' Raducanus's return to Centre Court at Wimbledon on Wednesday means there will be plenty of camera shots of her team on television. The Royal Box will also no doubt feature, with Raducanu even admitting that she often has a glance up to see which famous faces are in attendance. 'I think Centre and No1 Court in a way are visually quite similar, except the Royal Box at the back,' Raducanu said. 'But it's just the prestige of Centre Court. It's something that you grow up watching. I'm very aware of who's watching. Last year I think David Attenborough was there, which was also pretty amazing.' Raducanu is part of a British double act on Centre Court on Wednesday, with her match following Oliver Tarvet's second-round clash against the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. Whatever the result, what an occasion this will be for the 21-year-old world No733 who was playing qualifying at a converted cricket ground at Roehampton this time last week. 'I just heard his name when he qualified to the main draw,' Alcaraz said. 'I've watched a little bit of him before my match [on Monday]. I saw great tennis on grass, to be honest. I have to be ready. If he's in the second round, it is because he deserves it.' Second round, Wimbledon7pm (estimated), third match on Centre CourtTV BBC 1
The Guardian
01-07-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Raducanu to lean on Wimbledon support network for tough Vondrousova showdown
Emma Raducanu stressed the importance of leaning on her support network at Wimbledon as she prepares for her challenging second-round match against Marketa Vondrousova, the 2023 champion. Raducanu, who reached the second round on Monday with a solid 6-3, 6-3 win over the 17-year-old British wildcard Mimi Xu, reflected on the additional support she has received at the All England Club. 'At Wimbledon, it's particularly special. I had really good friends in the box there,' said Raducanu, before reeling off a list of names. 'To have them all here in this one week, and the way the stars align that they could be here, it means so much when I see them there. It just makes me really happy.' After her win, Raducanu said that it was emotional to briefly catch up with those close friends and the feeling of being supported sharply contrasts to her solitary existence the rest of the tennis season. 'Big time,' said Raducanu. 'After the match there, I just went outside to see them for five or 10 minutes and speak to them. And that's just an opportunity that is so rare, and you don't really get that at other tournaments, because I don't really travel my friends out. They have lives. So I have a few friends in other cities, but to have my real core, best friends here, it means a lot.' Raducanu is accompanied at Wimbledon by her coach, Mark Petchey, and the former player Jane O'Donoghue, who acts as an elder sister figure. With her fitness coach, Yutaka Nakamura, away for personal reasons, Raducanu is working with Ian Aylward, a strength and conditioning coach for the LTA, and the rest of the British governing body's fitness personnel. She will need all of their encouragement as she faces an extremely difficult task in round two against the in-form Vondrousova. Two years ago, the Czech produced one of the most surprising title runs in Wimbledon history. She was a French Open finalist in 2019 aged 19 and the Tokyo 2020 silver medallist, but Vondrousova's career has been ravaged by serious injuries. After already missing significant periods in her career due to multiple wrist operations, she underwent surgery on her left shoulder in 2023 shortly after her Wimbledon title run. Although she has struggled to compete regularly on the tour, she has shown her quality during her brief periods of good health. Nine days ago, Vondrousova won the Berlin Open WTA 500 event with supreme victories over Aryna Sabalenka – the world No 1 – and Madison Keys, the Australian Open champion. Vondrousova is an intelligent, crafty left-hander who outsmarts players with her vast variety of shots. The 26-year-old has won her last two matches against Raducanu, including in straight sets this year in Abu Dhabi, but the Briton beat her in the second round of Wimbledon in 2021 right at the beginning of her breakthrough run. 'I remember watching her when I was young making the final of the French,' said Raducanu. 'She was so young there. Always seemed like way above me, way further ahead than me. Then she had wrist surgery and then came back and won Wimbledon, which is incredible. So she's a really, really talented player. We played earlier on in the year in Abu Dhabi. I know she's super tough. It's very difficult to maintain that top level after winning a slam. But yeah, she's really playing in form right now.'
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Emma Raducanu reveals how she feels about sharing her coach with TNT Sports as British tennis star shares thoughts on unusual arrangement ahead of the French Open
Things are rarely by the book in the world of Emma Raducanu, and here in Paris she finds herself in the unusual position of sharing her coach with TNT Sport. The 22-year-old faces China's Xinyu Wang in the first round of the French Open on Monday - but whether she will have the benefit of Mark Petchey's advice from the stands depends entirely on the vagaries of the broadcast schedule. But Raducanu is all about looking on the bright side these days, and she insists the uncertainty has forced her to think on her feet. Petchey joined team Raducanu in Miami after the premature end of her coaching trial with Vlado Platenik and is working around his commentating commitments. In Paris he is part of the Discovery team, who are broadcasting on TNT Sport in Europe and TruTV in the US, so when it comes to having her coach courtside, the British No 2 will be at the mercy of the schedule. Also with Raducanu in Paris are Jane O'Donoghue, her childhood mentor turned financier who is taking a sabbatical from her day job, and Loughborough coach Tom Welsh. 'It completely depends on the schedule he (Petchey) gets,' said Raducanu. 'I knew that going into it. 'For him it's a great opportunity to keep doing what he does so well and at the same time have fun hopefully being on court with me. I have Tom here who is going to help and Jayne.' With coaching from the stands now permitted, the absence of Petchey from the box puts Raducanu at a disadvantage. O'Donoghue is never the most vocal on court and Welsh is inexperienced at the highest level. But Raducanu says she is learning to think on her feet when Petchey is absent, as he was during her first-round victory over Maya Joint in Rome. 'Being a lot more self-sufficient is something Mark has helped me with since Miami,' said the world No 41. 'A great sign of a coach is when you don't necessarily feel like you need them every shot, every point, so he's really helped me to figure things out for myself. 'When he's not here on the match court, if I am struggling with something or I want to ask something tactically or technically then I'll just go to Tom or Jayne.' Raducanu is well pleased with her current setup, but since the cessation of Andy Murray's partnership with Novak Djokovic there has been excitement over the prospect of the two highest-profile figures in British tennis uniting at some point in the future. Will we ever get the partnership the nation wants to see? 'I hope he's forgiven me for last year, I still feel bad about it,' laughed Raducanu, referring to her late decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles with Murray at his final Wimbledon. 'I don't know, that's something that's not been anywhere near my mind. I'm looking forward to seeing him around but as to anything more, that's very far out of my thoughts.' There were no British players in action on Sunday in a low-key opening day of the French Open - Grand Slam Sunday starts continue to be anti-climactic. Raducanu will lead the charge this morning at 10am UK time and will be a marginal favourite to get past world No43 Wang. The 23-year-old hits a big ball and, despite not having the best record on clay overall, has twice made the third round here. Katie Boulter will have to battle the notoriously rowdy French fans as well as Carole Monnet and Jodie Burrage has her work cut out against Danielle Collins. The most eye-catching matchup from a British point of view is Jacob Fearnley against 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka. The 40-year-old Swiss last year ended Murray's French Open career in the first round here, and Fearnley was happy to accept the narrative of retribution. 'I guess we can see it like that,' said the 23-year-old. 'Hopefully I can get the revenge for Scotland!'
