For most tennis fans, the name Emma Raducanu is one they might need to remember for some time to come. The 18-year-old wowed at Wimbledon, impressing hugely on the circuit and securing her name as one of the up and coming stars of WTA tennis. Alongside other youth starlets like Coco Gauff, Raducanu is seen as an example of the start of a new generation of young tennis superstars. However, despite a thrilling summer ride that has catapulted her into stardom, Raducanu is not holding back on making big changes.
Indeed, the English star is set to depart from her long-term coach Nigel Sears. Instead, she will return to working with Andrew Richardson, a popular coach whom she has worked with previously at youth level. There has been much talk around the switch, as first reported in the UK media this week, and is expected to be confirmed in the near future.
As one of the best upcoming young talents in the UK, if not worldwide, Raducanu looks set to try and capitalise on her moment. Through a coaching change, many stars have elevated their game to an even higher level. The hope for the young star is that she can continue her upward trajectory under a new coach who fully understands her and her game.
The future looks bright for Emma Raducanu
Regardless of who ends up coaching the starlet, the player who started out at Wimbledon as a No. 338 ranked wildcard looks set to have a very bright future within the game. She impressed at Wimbledon with wins over the likes of Marketa Vondrousova and Sorana Cirstea, beating them in straight sets to be the first British female to reach the second week of Wimbledon for over 60 years.
One coach who seems extremely excited about the future of the player is Andy Murray’s coach, Jamie Delgado. The coach, who has a fine record of working with British stars, praised her by saying: “When there’s lockdowns and players have been struggling to get their number of matches up, I think weeks like that really do help with that gap and make up for the lack of tournaments they’ve played,
“Someone like Emma is a great player regardless, but she would have played seven good matches a week and that will tick her over for a bit. She beat Harriet Dart there last year and generally played well. It was a really good week for her.”
Delgado continued, saying: “Everyone in British tennis knows that Emma is an excellent player. We have seen her at the NTC practicing and she is practicing with better players. She has always been doing well, so from that side of things we’re not surprised by how good she is.
“To go out into Wimbledon – the biggest tournament in the world – to be so confident and engage with the crowd and back it up with a few good matches, I think that was brilliant to see for everyone.”
Regardless of who ends up coaching the young star, then, the future looks very bright indeed.
