Emma Raducanu's former coach explains split after helping her to US Open glory

15 May 2023 , 07:16

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Andrew Richardson coached Emma Raducanu to US Open glory (Image: Getty Images)

Andrew Richardson has explained how his split from Emma Raducanu came about following the Brit’s magical US Open win.

Raducanu shot to stardom in 2021 when she beat Leylah Fernandez to win the Major title in New York, aged 18. Playing in just her fourth senior tournament, she became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since 1977.

Raducanu went from doing her A-Levels to becoming an overnight celebrity, but has struggled for form ever since that triumph. The 20-year-old has dropped out of the top 100 in the rankings and undergone three rounds of surgery, prompting some to question why she split from Richardson.

The 49-year-old was there courtside at Flushing Meadows as Raducanu produced a staggering tournament before being quietly dropped from her team. Reports at the time suggested Richardson walked away to coach his son Rocco in his budding tennis career, but he says that is untrue.

“The fact of the matter is that I had a nine-week trial contract that both Emma and I thought was a good idea to see how we would get on, and it ran through to the end of the US Open, stopping immediately afterwards,” he told the Daily Mail.

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“There was a period of time after that when I was keen to renegotiate the contract. I wanted to carry on, and I had a plan that I wanted to put in place for Emma. This thing about ‘I wanted to go off and coach my son’ is not true, but it seems to come up all the time.

Emma Raducanu decided to split from Andrew Richardson (Getty Images)

“After probably 10 days to two weeks (following the Open) I didn’t have a contract. We were in the process of re-negotiating and then I got a brief call from her agent telling me they were going to go in a different direction, and that was the end of it.”

Explaining the decision at the time, Raducanu said: "I feel like at this stage in my career, and playing the top players in the world, I realised I really need someone right now that has had that WTA Tour experience at the high levels, which means that I'm looking for someone who has been at that level and knows what it takes.

"And especially right now because I'm so new to it, I really need someone to guide me who's already been through that."

On her conversation with Richardson, she added: "Obviously having such an experience with your team, it's tough to have that conversation with anyone, but I think for me it's just really what I need."

Richardson admitted it was a “difficult period” for him following the split, but refused to criticise his former player. “I certainly learned a lot from the whole experience,” he said. “Life has moved on and I’m very busy.”

Felix Keith