Emma Raducanu has announced the end of yet another coaching partnership. The British No1 confirmed on Thursday that a mutual decision had been made to part with Rafael Nadal’s former mentor Francisco Roig after only six months together.
The news does not come as a big surprise for two reasons. First, working with Raducanu does not exactly come with job security, given that the 23-year-old has had at least ten different coaches over the past 4½ years. As a result, she is renowned on the tour as someone who is not easy to please when it comes to technical and tactical guidance.
Second, Raducanu made clear in the aftermath of her tame Australian Open second-round exit last week that she was not happy with the game plan she was given for a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 defeat by Anastasia Potapova, the world No55 from Austria. In effect, she was throwing Roig under the bus and a subsequent conversation between the pair concluded with a decision to split.
The pair began working together shortly before last year’s US Open but the partnership only survived one more grand-slam event
ELLA LING/SHUTTERSTOCK
A statement released by Raducanu conveyed warmth and thanks towards Roig for the time they spent together, including a photograph of the pair playing golf. However, it still fails to take away from the ruthlessness with which Raducanu operates when it comes to her personnel.
“Francis, thank you for our time together,” Raducanu wrote on social media. “You have been more than a coach to me and I will cherish the many good times we spent together on and off the court.
“While we have come to the conclusion together that we ought not to move forward, please know that I am very grateful for all you have taught me and fond of our time shared.”
Raducanu has not yet appointed a replacement because she is only at the beginning of her search. She is due to return to action at next week’s Transylvania Open in Cluj, Romania, and will be accompanied by Alexis Canter, an assistant and hitting partner who occasionally travelled with her last year.
The private reaction within tennis circles on Thursday suggests that Raducanu is approaching the point — if she is not already there — at which she will find it difficult to recruit prime coaches because of the turnaround associated with her. History shows that there is little to no stability in the Raducanu camp.
In the case of Roig, his appointment in August was initially seen as an encouraging move for Raducanu. The 57-year-old Spaniard has significant experience, most notably by the side of Nadal for 22 grand-slam victories between 2005 and 2022.
In the early stages of the partnership, Raducanu enthused about their work together, which helped her secure a top-32 seeding for the Australian Open by the end of last year. But it all began to unravel with a poor start to this season, including a straight-sets defeat at the Hobart International by the world No204 Taylah Preston.
It then became clear at the Australian Open that there was a fundamental disagreement between player and coach. Normally this would not be aired in public, but Raducanu remarkably had no hesitation in picking apart her tactics during a press conference after her second-round exit.
Raducanu shared a picture of her and Roig playing golf as she confirmed their split
EMMA RADUCANU/INSTAGRAM
“I want to be playing a different way,” Raducanu said. “The misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on.”
This was an obvious dig that meant Raducanu’s partnership with Roig was unsustainable. Barely more than a week later, Raducanu is again coach-less as she prepares for a bid to recover her form in Cluj.
There is no denying that Raducanu produced one of the great British sporting achievements at the age of 18 in 2021, winning ten matches in straight sets at the US Open to become the only qualifier in tennis history to win a grand-slam title. Raducanu also remains Britain’s best active female player by far at a world ranking of No29, ahead of Sonay Kartal at No66 and Francesca Jones at No71.
It was an odd decision by Raducanu in September 2021 to dispense with Andrew Richardson, the coach who had helped her triumph at Flushing Meadows, but there was some leeway in the court of public opinion given that her approach to tennis had led her to a major title as a teenager.
This has long gone now, though. Many figures within the game are completely puzzled by the actions of Raducanu in going through so many coaches. While there is normally a coaching merry-go-round on the tour towards the end of the season, the timing of Roig’s departure weeks into 2026 shows that Raducanu does not hesitate to get rid of any personnel when she sees fit.
It is clear to many that Raducanu needs to be the one who instigates a re-evaluation of her approach. Having not reached a final of any tournament since the 2021 US Open, and with only one appearance in the second week (fourth round onwards) of her past 13 grand-slam events, it is time for Raducanu to look at herself rather than the coach in her box.