Emma Raducanu has said she is determined to rediscover her natural style of play, claiming it has been 'coached out' of her by a series of coaches. The British No 1, currently ranked 24th in the world, is competing at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells this week.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Raducanu said: 'I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that’s something that has been coached out of me a little bit. I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn’t necessarily fit.'
The 23-year-old has had a turbulent start to the season, entering the Australian Open underprepared due to a foot injury, then parting ways with coach Francisco Roig after a second-round defeat. She reached her first final since the 2021 US Open in Romania, but has since struggled with illness.
Raducanu is being helped in California by Mark Petchey, who served as an ad hoc coach last season, and hitting partner Alexis Canter. She has not ruled out hiring a full-time coach but is wary of being pressured into a long-term commitment. 'I would rather someone not come in and tell me “let’s do this”, and I disagree with it, but have to listen to them,' she said.
Tim Henman, however, believes Raducanu's priority should be improving her physical resilience. 'It’s still too stop-start,' he said. 'She has to become physically more resilient to be stronger and faster to then compete with the biggest hitters and the best players.' Henman added that while Raducanu may never match the physicality of top players like Aryna Sabalenka or Iga Swiatek, she must close the gap.
