Emma Raducanu's agent explains controversial "philosophy" behind sacking coaches

26 July 2023 , 10:10

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Emma Raducanu's agent Max Eisenbud insists her approach of hiring and firing coaches is nothing new, suggesting a change is unlikely.

Raducanu, 20, worked with Andrew Richardson for her eye-catching 2021 US Open triumph. Since then, though, she has had spells working with Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs.

The young talent split with Sachs in June, and fans are anticipating an announcement on a new hire while Raducanu continues her recovery from the injury issues which kept her out of Wimbledon. Eisenbud, however, has pointed to the fact that regular changes were part of the star's career as long ago as her time in the juniors.

'The coaching situation, right or wrong, and this is something that her dad and Emma pretty much control on all the coaching stuff," Eisenbud told The Tennis Podcast (via the Mail). "That has been their philosophy all the way up through the juniors.

'They never had coaches for a long time. You've probably heard of that. For them, that is calm waters, having a coach for five months and going on to someone else.

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Raducanu moved away from Nigel Sears for a reunion with youth coach Richardson just a few months before her grand slam success. She made another change just a few weeks later, and Eisenbud insisted the approach should be viewed in the context of the women's tour in general.

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Emma Raducanu's agent explains controversial "philosophy" behind sacking coaches

Emma Raducanu worked with Andrew Richardson for her US Open triumph (© USTA)

"I think you see players changing coaches all the time, particularly on the women's tour," he added, though he admitted moving away from Richardson after the US Open win was "not the norm". "I think people have a hard time understanding how you can get to the fourth round of Wimbledon and then how you don't keep working with Nigel Sears, who is a great coach and a great guy.

"All the people when she stopped working with Nigel were killing her… then she won the US Open. You were killing her for not staying with Nigel then she won the US Open. Then she changes coaches again.

"People need to get over the fact that that's what they need to do. It's probably going to be like that for the rest of her career."

The British star split with coach Sebastian Sachs in June (AFP via Getty Images)

Raducanu has struggled with injury in 2023, damaging her chances of further grand slam success. After a second round exit in Australia, she underwent surgery in May which kept her out of the French Open and Wimbledon.

"Hey, it is safe to say the last 10 months have been difficult as I dealt with a recurring injury on a bone of both hands," she explained. "I tried my best to manage the pain and play through it for most of this year and end of last year by reducing practice load dramatically, missing weeks of training as well as cutting last season short to try heal it, unfortunately, it’s not enough.

"I’m having a minor procedure done on both hands to resolve the issues. I’m disappointed to share that I will be out for the next few months and while I am at it will have another minor procedure that is due on my ankle.

"It pains me that I will miss the summer events and I tried to downplay the issues so I thank all my fans who continued to support me when you did not know the facts. Looking forward to seeing you all back out there."