Emma Raducanu's ex-coach opens up about end of partnership and British star's 'very different life' ahead of US Open
Published 21/08/2025 at 13:48 GMT+1
Emma Raducanu’s former coach Mark Petchey has opened up about his four-month spell working with the British No. 1 in 2025. The pair worked together from the Miami Open through to Wimbledon, during which time Raducanu enjoyed some strong results. However, the 22-year-old has now hired Rafael Nadal’s ex-coach Francisco Roig, who she hopes will help her take the next step in her career.
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Mark Petchey has revealed the reason he is no longer working with British No. 1 Emma Raducanu after the pair enjoyed success in the early part of 2025 together.
Raducanu has been through several coaches during her time on tour and was at a loose end ahead of March’s Miami Open, where Petchey was working as a commentator.
Having worked together previously, Raducanu sought the advice of her former mentor and enjoyed a strong run to the quarter-finals before being beaten in three sets by fourth-seed Jessica Pegula.
Another last-eight appearance at Queen’s followed before she pushed Aryna Sabalenka close in the second round at Wimbledon.
However, Petchey’s commitments elsewhere meant he was never likely to become a full-time member of Raducanu’s team, with the pair going their separate ways ahead on the Cincinnati Open.
Raducanu now has a new coach in her corner in Francisco Roig. A former coach of Rafael Nadal, Roig was added to the Brit’s team following a post-Wimbledon trial and was with her in Cincinnati and at the US Open mixed doubles.
"The way we stopped working together was totally amicable," Petchey told OLBG. "My job at the start with her was going to be just Miami.
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"Then obviously it became longer through to Wimbledon, and then obviously she had three days with Francis Roig, Rafael Nadal’s former coach, after Wimbledon and that went well.
"But he couldn’t start due to other commitments until Cincinnati. So, around the work stuff that I have, we stayed in contact, and I helped her up in Montreal as best I could.
"But eventually my commitments were going to be too much to be a lead person for her in that environment."
Raducanu vaulted to fame when she won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier but has since failed to reach those heights.
The 22-year-old even feared for her future in tennis when she was sidelined for the majority of 2023 with serious wrist issues that required surgery.
Petchey added that Raducanu’s early success and the spotlight that comes with it has perhaps made certain things "difficult" for her, but heaped praise on her "work ethic and desire" to return to the summit of the sport.
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"From my perspective, I hope people can really understand how much she loves tennis. She’s totally invested in it. She watches it all the time," Petchey continued.
"She practises as hard as anyone I know and has spent more time on the court, or as much time on the court, as everybody else. And obviously she’s living a very different life.
"She’s living a lot of her career in reverse and that’s not been easy. Having set the bar so high so early on in your career, every week you are measured not just by other people’s expectations but also your own expectations.
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"That is a good thing because it drives you to be as good as you can be. But on the other hand, it’s difficult, because at times it can feel like you’re not hitting the standard you want to because that’s where your bar is at.
"From that perspective, her work ethic and her desire to be able to do what she did back in 2021 is as great as I remember in 2020, when I first had a chance to work with her."
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