Enjoying her best year on tour since 2021, Emma Raducanu seems to have finally sorted her coaching team.
Earlier this year, Raducanu added Mark Petchey to her team, as the pair immediately found success, reaching the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.
They continued to pick up big wins together, although Petchey couldn’t commit to becoming Raducanu’s full-time coach due to prior media arrangements.
With that in mind, Raducanu hired Francisco Roig as her head coach in the lead-up to the US Open, as Petchey departed.
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Making some minor adjustments to her game, Rafael Nadal’s former coach has guided Raducanu to the third round in New York.
Watching Raducanu’s second-round win at the US Open, former British star Laura Robson recalled a conversation she had with Petchey earlier this year, where he highlighted the biggest problem facing the 22-year-old.
Mark Petchey told Laura Robson that Emma Raducanu struggles to ‘match up shot by shot’ with top players
During her post-match analysis for Sky Sports, Robson shared what Petchey told her about Raducanu when they were working together.
“It’s very similar to a conversation I had over the summer with Mark Petchey when he was working with Emma [Raducanu], and they were trying to figure out what sort of player she was going to be,” she said.
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“Where he felt she was at that time was that she wasn’t hitting big enough, that she was trying to be an aggressive player, but she couldn’t match up shot by shot against the likes of [Aryna] Sabalenka.
MatchWinnerLoserScore2025 Cincinnati Open – R32Aryna SabalenkaEmma Raducanu7-6, 4-6, 7-62025 Wimbledon – R32Aryna SabalenkaEmma Raducanu7-6, 6-42024 Indian Wells – R32Aryna SabalenkaEmma Raducanu6-3, 7-5Emma Raducanu’s head-to-head record against Aryna Sabalenka
“So what can she do really well?
“She moves really well, she counter punches really well, she’s got the ability to change the placement up, so she can redirect.
“You’re never going to out-hit Sabalenka, so you have to figure out different ways where you are going to put pressure on, but still do it consistently and not a Madison Keys-type vibe where you’re just going all out, all the time.
“I think she’s finding that balance at the moment, and it seems like she’s enjoying that.”
It certainly looked like Raducanu found the balance in round two, as she dominated her Indonesian opponent.
Laura Robson praises ‘really solid’ Emma Raducanu performance against Janice Tjen
Raducanu made light work of Indonesia’s Janice Tjen in the second round of the US Open, knocking her out in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.
Robson was impressed with Raducanu’s performance and the way she approached what could have been a ‘tricky’ match.
“Just a really solid performance, and that was a match that if you start to overthink, it could have been trickier, because you’re playing someone who you know has played a tonne of tennis, has qualified, won a round, probably playing the best tennis of her career, and then all of a sudden, that expectation and pressure is all on your shoulders,” she said.
“But [Emma] Raducanu just came out with such a purpose, first game of the match you saw the intent with the ground strokes, she just had that much more in every shot today than [Janice] Tjen.”
The Brit also took the time to give Tjen, who won her first Grand Slam main draw match in New York, her flowers.
“What a great event it’s been for Tjen, what a year it’s been for her, she’s going to be on the rise and in the top 100 in no time,” said Robson.
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Pleased with Raducanu’s efforts in the second round, Robson is already looking forward to round three.
“We were pleasantly surprised by what we got from Emma Raducanu today, she’s been playing consistent tennis. You could tell that Tjen, by the end of the match was almost second guessing her game plan, especially on the forehand side, she didn’t know where to go with it, that’s when the unforced errors creep in even more,” she said.
“Just a really solid second-round match.
“We’re all getting a little bit excited at the prospect of playing [Elena] Rybakina.”
In what must be the tie of the third round, Raducanu will play Elena Rybakina on Friday, August 29.