Barry Cowan assesses Emma Raducanu’s chances of success at the US Open this year

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Emma Raducanu has seen her US Open chances rated mid-way through her impressive run at the Washington Open.

It has been a mesmeric week thus far from the 22-year-old, who has soared into the semi-finals, beating stars like Maria Sakkari and Naomi Osaka on her way to that stage.

After a really tough few years after the greatest triumph of her career, it finally feels like Emma Raducanu is on the right path towards consistency and fitness.

For that, she can thank Mark Petchey, who has helped spearhead this turnaround since uniting with his compatriot in April.

And now, speaking exclusively to Tennishead, Barry Cowan gave his thoughts on the potential split between coach and player, whilst also rating Raducanu’s chances at the upcoming US Open.

Barry Cowan makes Emma Raducanu US Open prediction

We first sought to get his thoughts on the imminent US Open, which remains the site of Raducanu’s greatest-ever success: her 2021 title.

Naturally, nobody expects her to mimic such an impossible feat, but there is certainly cause for optimism.

Cowan certainly thinks there’s a chance she could impress, as he first admitted: “Yeah, I think grass and fast hard courts are her best surfaces. I think the reason for that is that she is a great timer of a tennis ball. And when she won the US Open, she predominantly played her tennis on the baseline and used her great timing to hit the ball early and rush her opponents.

“Obviously, on the slower hard courts, on the clay courts, it’s a totally different type of style that is required, but yeah, I mean, she can do well at the US Open, but I think that the women’s tour is something where I do feel, you know, I look back to Washington last year as a good example. I thought she’d played a great in Washington.”

He then went further in depth about her Washington Open campaign thus far, and last year’s fine run as well: “She played two really good matches, she won, she built momentum, she lost narrowly to [Paula] Badosa in the quarter-finals, and then she didn’t play after that until the US Open.

“Well, you can’t expect to play, you know, one great week and then not play for three or four weeks and then pick it up. At 30 years of age or 35 years of age, if you’re a [Novak] Djokovic or further back, Serena Williams, that’s okay.

“But for Raducanu, she needs matches.”

Fortunately, Raducanu has enjoyed deep runs in both the singles and doubles this week, which has pleased Cowan: “On the other side of it, I’m pleased that she’s playing doubles this week. I think that’s also important, because ultimately, the age she’s at, her game, she should be looking to try and improve it week in, week out, and try and close that gap.

“She is not, right now, a top 10 player, a top 20 player. I know she was, but it was kind of the outlier because of what she did at the US Open. So I totally disregard what happened previously with her ranking.

“And you know, right now, if she were to get a seeded position for the US Open, given where she was at the start of the year, I would say she’s absolutely ahead of probably where she was eight months ago.”

Barry Cowan assesses Emma Raducanu’s coaching situation

Following on from that, we sought to gather Cowan’s opinion on the coaching situation unfolding within the 22-year-old’s camp.

After all, Petchey admitted he could not continue coaching Raducanu, effectively confirming their split. And yet, they inexplicably have yet to confirm this separation.

Cowan was full of insight on this topic, and he began by claiming: “Well, the thing with Raducanu is, personally, and I’ve said this openly, that she’s trying to go against history. I believe in history, and history will tell us that players of that age, the development age between 19 and 23, I think you need a consistent message. I think you need the same coach.”

He did try to sympathise with Raducanu, as he continued: “Now, sometimes that’s not always possible. So there’s no point sticking with a coach for a year or two or three if literally you hate each other, there’s no chemistry, but ideally, you do want that period where it’s a consistent message.

“Now, what I’ve tried to understand, it’s her end of it, and she has always believed, you know, right from very young age, from the juniors, and obviously going through the US Open which she won, she’s believed in having coaches for a short period of time, getting the information from that coach and then moving on. My view is, you’re going against history.”

Cowan was keen to reinforce that he has been impressed with the new British number one, assuring us: “I do think she’s had a really good year.

“I think she’s built momentum. I think that, you know, forget those big matches. Forget the [Iga] Swiatek in Australia, [Iga] Swiatek at the French and [Aryna] Sabalenka at Wimbledon. I thought she played very well at Wimbledon, and so many other bigger matches that she’s played.

“I think what you’re looking at from Raducanu is ideally you’re seeing that improvement in the lower-tier tournaments. I know she’s done everything upside down. She’s won the major before winning on the tour. But I do feel that these tournaments like this week in Washington, like Eastbourne in the week before Wimbledon, like some of the other tournaments leading into the Masters and the majors. I think those are the tournaments where she’s got to be looking, if she is going to get to the top ten, top 20, those are the tournaments she needs to be looking to convert those into semi-finals, finals and wins. And as of yet, she hasn’t had that.”

He finished by giving his conclusion on the Petchey-Raducanu saga, stating: “And the third part of your question in terms of the coach, you know, obviously, she’s in Washington this week. She’s not with a coach.

“So the way the tour’s structured now, it is a period of five weeks where, because you’ve got calendar in Cincinnati that are now spread over three weeks, I think if you don’t get the necessary results, that’s where you need the coach to really work on your game.

“And right now, she hasn’t got that because she hasn’t got a coach with her in Washington. Now, I don’t know whether that has changed.”