Former British No.1 Says Emma Raducanu Reuniting with Andrew Richardson Has Begun to Pay Off

Former British No.1 Tim Henman has lauded Emma Raducanu for reuniting with Andrew Richardson in April following her second championship final at the Queen’s Club Championships. Raducanu admitted in May that she made some mistakes early in her career, which led to her parting ways with Richardson.

Richardson had helped Raducanu win her only career title at the 2021 US Open, where she overcame Leylah Fernandez to become the first qualifier to win the major title in New York. However, just months after the historic triumph, Raducanu decided to part ways with the British coach.

She went on to hire seven other coaches in less than five years, including Rafael Nadal’s former coach, Francisco Roig, and Mark Petchey, to help her improve her game on the court and return to competing for big titles. But those coaches couldn’t give her what she wanted, so she went without a coach for months this season.

In April, she announced that she was reuniting with Richardson ahead of her clay debut in Strasbourg after withdrawing from several tournaments due to a viral illness. Nonetheless, the reunion didn’t gain instant success as Raducanu suffered back-to-back clay defeats before reaching the final of the Queen’s Club Championships.

At the grass-court tournament in London, she defeated Sorana Cirstea and Iva Jovic to reach the final before losing to Donna Vekic 0-6, 6(6)-7 at the Andy Murray Arena in London. During a conversation on Sky Sports, Tim Henman pointed out that Richardson’s instructions during the tournament were easily carried out by Raducanu on the court:

I think it is great that Andrew Richardson is back in her corner. Obviously, he’s known her for many, many years, long before their success at the US Open. You can hear his input from the side of the court, he was a good player himself, a very good coach and fingers crossed Emma will stick with it. I think consistency and continuity are something that has been missing for a number of years.

Raducanu’s major problem in her career has been a lack of a long-term coach. Richardson will be in her coaching box until the end of the season as the British coach didn’t want a short-term contract. Raducanu has worked with coaches for two weeks and parted ways with them and that was Richardson wanted to avoid.

Emma Raducanu admits her loss against Donna Vekic was tough

Emma Raducanu’s Queen’s Club Championships final was her second championship match of the season. She reached her first at the Transylvania Open in February, where she lost to Sorana Cirstea in straight sets. Reaching two finals this season is a sign of improvement on Raducanu’s part but her lack of confidence in finals is mind-blowing.

Donna Vekic needed just 29 minutes in the first set to bagel the British star 6-0. It needed the intervention of Andrew Richardson in her coaching box, dishing out instructions, before Raducanu could regroup and challenge the Croatian star. After the loss, she narrated that the tie was a tough one for her:

It’s been an incredible week for me, making the final here, playing in my home city, in my home tournament. The support I have received all week has been incredible but I really want to take this opportunity to thank everyone. Today was a really tough match. Donna played extremely well from the start to the finish.

Raducanu has withdrawn from this week’s Nottingham Open in England. The World No.31 will have to play at the Eastbourne International to seal her place in the main draw of the Wimbledon Championship. Despite not signing up for Eastbourne, she’s likely to get a wildcard into the tournament.

Also Read: Emma Raducanu Admits She Deserves to Celebrate Despite Finishing as Runner-Up at Queen’s Championship