The 18-year spell that Francisco Roig spent as part of Rafael Nadal’s coaching team was entirely typical of how the Spanish 22-times grand-slam singles champion aimed to shape his career.
Nadal was guided throughout his career by his uncle, Toni, who pushed him to succeed after recognising his talent from an early age. Roig came on board before Nadal had won a grand-slam tournament and stayed for all of those 22 titles before pursuing new challenges.
Carlos Moya, Nadal’s fellow Mallorcan, had been an unofficial mentor during his playing career and then, after retirement, became Nadal’s primary coach in 2016, helping him to revive his fortunes and enjoy so much late-career success before retiring last year. In the team he assembled around himself, Nadal placed a high value on the continuity of his professional relationships.
Roig, left, worked alongside Nadal for many years and more recently was part of Berrettini’s backroom staff
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By agreeing to work with Emma Raducanu, Roig will be joining a markedly different set-up. The British No1 has enjoyed a productive time working with Mark Petchey on an informal basis since March but Petchey’s broadcasting commitments meant that the arrangement was never likely to become permanent. So, after a recent trial period, Roig has been enlisted to work with Raducanu for the rest of the year, starting at the Cincinnati Open next week, continuing a pattern of instability in her coaching team.
Roig, 57, will become the eighth coach to have worked with Raducanu, 22, since she made her grand-slam debut at Wimbledon four years ago. Nigel Sears coached her at the time before Andrew Richardson helped her to her fairytale victory at the US Open later that year. A number of short-term engagements followed as Raducanu’s attempts to build on that unexpected triumph were repeatedly interrupted by injuries, with Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs all engaged for only a matter of months, while Vladimir Platenik lasted only 14 days this year.
For much of the past 18 months Raducanu’s progress has been overseen by Nick Cavaday, a former childhood coach, and most recently Petchey, who had previously worked with Andy Murray. Raducanu has since reached quarter-finals in Miami and at the Queen’s Club, gave a strong showing in a third-round defeat at Wimbledon against Aryna Sabalenka, the world No1, and a semi-final appearance in Washington DC last week lifted her to No33 in the world rankings.
Raducanu will be hoping to secure a US Open seeding with a strong showing in Cincinnati
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But a third-round defeat by Amanda Anisimova in Montreal last weekend will result in her falling to No38, and she will need a strong performance in Cincinnati to have a chance of securing one of the 32 ranking spots available for the US Open this month.
The impact that Roig has on her progress, and the amount of time he remains in the job, should make for fascinating viewing. Since he ended his long spell with Nadal in 2022 he worked with Matteo Berrettini, the former Wimbledon runner-up, for ten months until October last year, but this will be his first time working on the WTA Tour.
Nadal and Roig, who spent 18 years together in a player‑coach partnership, occasionally joined forces on court in doubles matches
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There is no doubting, though, the high regard in which Roig is held after his work with Nadal. In his playing career Roig, from Barcelona, was a doubles specialist who briefly reached No60 in the world singles rankings. The early days of his coaching career were spent working with Feliciano López, the Spanish left-hander, but when Toni Nadal was looking to reduce the amount of time he spent on the road with his nephew, he asked whether Roig would be interested in joining the set-up.
That was in 2005, when Nadal was only 19. A few months later he won the first of his 22 grand-slam titles; the first of his record 14 victories at the French Open. Roig would typically spend 12 weeks of the year on tour with Nadal, liaising throughout with his uncle, Toni, as well as working with him back in Spain between tournaments. He became a highly trusted member of the coaching set-up as Nadal continued his development into one of the game’s greatest players.
The relationship was so strong that, at the Qatar Open in December 2013, when Nadal was looking for a doubles partner, Roig came out of retirement to play on the ATP Tour for the first time in 12 years — four months before his 46th birthday.
In his biography of Nadal, The Warrior, Christopher Clarey offers López’s insight into the value Roig added to Nadal’s team. “He doesn’t use that much video analysis, but he sees things that the rest of the coaches don’t see,” López said. “He’s able to see things in Rafa’s forehand or movement that no other guys would notice. Technically, I think he’s the best coach in the world.”
Petchey, left, said in July that Raducanu would need a full-time coach
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Clarey wrote that Roig had helped Nadal “in particular with his volleys and slice backhand”. Roig himself spoke of how in the later stages of Nadal’s career, the quality of his warm-up became increasingly important. “Not only the training, but the warm-ups are vital, this is why his warm-ups are so long,” Roig said. “Rafa is very demanding in training because he knows what it takes to be No1 in the world.”
When Roig finally decided to move on after 18 years, Nadal offered his own tribute. “When we started working together, I was a kid and along with my uncle Toni, we were starting along the track,” Nadal said. “Francisco is a great technician who knows tennis very well and has helped me a lot to get better and better. I’m so grateful for all the years of work and friendship.”
Nadal embraces his coaching team after winning the French Open in 2020
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The relationship with Raducanu will undoubtedly be different but the British No1 is hoping that Roig’s expertise and experience will help her to build on the promise she has shown this year. While Raducanu, like Nadal, has placed strong faith in coaches she worked with earlier in her career — that applies to Richardson, Cavaday and Petchey, with Jane O’Donoghue a regular mentoring presence — she clearly feels the time has come to introduce a fresh voice once again.
If he can lift her game to the next level, enabling Raducanu to compete on a regular basis with the best in the world, the chances are that he will remain in post for longer than some of his predecessors.