"I really don't hear much at all": Coaching without coaching as Emma Raducanu says US Open noise drowns out Francisco Roig

Britain’s Emma Raducanu has had a great start to her US Open campaign as she defeated Japan’s Ena Shibahara in straight sets with a score of 6-1, 6-2. The result showed the consistency of Raducanu’s performance on the court in the recent past.

Raducanu has now won the first matches of the last 11 consecutive events, which puts her in a great spot while playing in the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year, which remains her only major triumph in her career. Raducanu spoke to Sky Sports after securing her spot in the second round of the US Open, where she credited much of her success to her current coach, Francisco Roig.

Raducanu highlighted some of the qualities of Roig including his calmness. Raducanu stated that Roig helped her understand that the work they are doing will eventually produce results and that it is not supposed to pay off ‘straight away’. Raducanu explained that her new coach is helping her not to be a ‘perfectionist’ all the time.

"I'm really enjoying working with Francis,” said Raducanu. “He's a great person to have on and off the court. He is chatty and great fun off the court, we have a lot of laughs which definitely helps. He's great at having that calm and composure about him, reassuring me that all the work we're doing off the court doesn't need to pay off straight away but I know we are working towards something and building day by day. I can be pretty tough on myself sometimes. He just helps a lot with trying to be not such a perfectionist."

Roig was full of advice for Raducanu in the tournament opener. Unfortunately, Raducanu did not hear him because of the noise. Talking about it, Raducanu stated that she tried to stay in her zone after knowing that everything was ‘in control’

"I really don't hear much at all,” said Raducanu. “It's really difficult unless you're at the box and you're speaking very close and looking, it's so hard to hear. I probably don't take in much of what he's saying, but I think, when I feel like I really need it, then I will go and look and will understand. But for the most part, especially when you're in a match like Sunday, I felt like I had most things kind of under control on my side of the court. I just want to stay in my zone and keep going with what I'm doing.”

Raducanu will have a tough and unknown opponent in the second round, Indonesia’s Janice Tjen. The 23-year-old produced one of the biggest upsets of the US Open 2024 as she defeated the 24-seed Veronika Kudermetova in the first round with a score of 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Ahead of the contest, Raducanu spoke at length about the importance of setting milestones and achieving them. She stated that the most significant milestone she has achieved recently is that she has complete trust in her coach and firmly believes that whatever they are doing behind closed doors will eventually help her become a better player. She stated that her recent results have made her feel ‘satisfied’ with the process that has been followed during the training sessions.

“I think the biggest milestones are I put a lot of trust in what I'm doing with Francisco on the practice court," said Raducanu. "I think we're just working really well, doing the right stuff on the practice court, and I just feel like I'm improving. To take confidence from what I'm doing behind the scenes and not just because I have won these matches on the tour. I'm doing a lot day to day. It's going well, and I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying getting better, and the process of feeling like at the end of the day I'm satisfied I got a little bit better, and just repeating it. I think that's probably the biggest success and reason to why I feel the way I do right now."