© Getty Images Sport – Julian Finney
Tim Henman acknowledges Emma Raducanu’s habit of constantly changing coaches may look “unusual” to many but he personally believes it is all “horses for courses.” Raducanu, 20, has worked with five different coaches since the summer of 2021.
Most recently, Raducanu split with coach Sebastian Sachs shortly after undergoing three surgeries in May. As Raducanu is preparing for a comeback at the start of the 2024 season, it is expected that the 2021 US Open champion will announce a new coach in the upcoming weeks.
“It’s horses for courses. It’s unusual. But you could say that it’s worked for her. For me, I was on the tour for 15 years and I worked with three coaches so I liked that consistency and continuity. Having said that, it’ll be interesting to see what she does because she will need a tennis coach when she resumes.
In tennis it’s not so unusual to change [coaches]. Sometimes you share coaches and there are different ways of doing it. I’m not sure where Emma’s at right now in terms of her rehab, how much time she’s able to spend on court.
The tennis side of things is one of the important elements but probably you could argue right now that the rehab and the physical conditioning is probably the most important element. So fingers crossed she can get all three right and be back out there soon,” Henman told Sky Sports.
Raducanu explained her habit of constantly changing coaches
Seeing a player change five different coaches over a two-year period is not a common occurrence in tennis. When Raducanu’s results and form started to plummet, some former players thought that the Briton was lacking consistency and that she could fix that by working with someone over a longer period of time.
In one of her recent interviews, Raducanu made a revelation that likely gave an answer to why she hasn’t been able to form a long-term partnership with any of her past coaches. “I ask my coaches a lot of questions. On certain occasions they haven’t been able to keep up with the questions I’ve asked and maybe that’s why it ended.
It’s something I’ve always done. I keep provoking and asking questions to coaches and challenging their thinking as well. I’m not someone that you can just tell me what do and I’ll do it, I need to understand why and then I’ll do it,” Raducanu told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. It will be interesting to see who will be Raducanu’s next coaching hire.
