Former world number one
Martina Navratilova has asked
Britain’s
Emma Raducanu to stick with a coach for at least one year if she wants
to see improvements in her game. Raducanu has remained in the limelight ever
since lifting the US Open back in 2021 at the age of just 18.
However, after winning that title, not much has gone right
for Raducanu, who has struggled with fitness problems and found it hard to produce consistent positive results on the court. During all those years, one thing remained consistent: Raducanu consistently changing her coaching
staff.
This year, Raducanu has featured in 32 matches and
suffered defeats on 14 occasions. Her most recent defeat came at Wimbledon, where
she lost to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the third round. After that, her current coach, Mark Petchey, ruled himself out of a permanent role. Now, Navratilova
has once again asked Raducanu to sort her coaching staff and stick to one
person if she wants to reclaim her lost glory in the near future.
"Commit
to a year, if you like the person, if you know them and what they can bring to
your game, then you need to really buy in and stick with it and make sure
you're doing your part as far as training, fitness, eating all of that," said
Navratilova while speaking to Sky Sports News. "She's got the talent and
she did play better tennis against Sabalenka. She's going in the right
direction now. She needs to stick with somebody longer because when you work
with somebody, it takes a while for them to incorporate into their game and
then get the results. When you start a new training regime, you don't
immediately go faster or get stronger. I just think she needs to really take
charge of her life, make sure that she's the one that's making all the
decisions for herself, and then stick with somebody."