Emma Raducanu ‘doesn’t need a full time coach’ says former WTA star
Former world number seven Barbara Schett has argued that Emma Raducanu “doesn’t need a full time coach” insisting that “she’s on the right track.”
Last week, Emma Raducanu announced that she was to split with coach Torben Beltz after five months of working together.
It is the third coach that Raducanu has parted ways with in just nine months, as she split from Nigel Sears after her Wimbledon breakthrough and did not extend her trial with Andrew Richardson after her historic US Open triumph.
Despite speculation of who will be Raducanu’s next coach and even some pundits calling it ‘a worry’ that her coaching set up lacks consistency, it seems to be working for the British starlet who has moved into the last 16 of the Madrid Open without dropping a set and without an appointed coach.
Former top ten WTA player Barbara Schett has commented on Raducanu’s coaching set up and believes that even though it would be unorthodox, Emma Raducanu could benefit from having a number of coaches in her corner.
Speaking to Eurosport, Schett said, “It was a bit of a shock to hear that she split with Torben Beltz.
“But you never know. You have to work with somebody together for a few months to actually see if you’re fitting or not – that could have been cultural differences.
“But I think even though Emma has had a few coaches along the way, in the last year or two, she’s been really inhaling some sort of information from each of them, which actually makes her a bit of a better tennis player, and I think it shows in her form now.
“Maybe she is a player who doesn’t need a full-time coach. Maybe she needs a hitting partner who travels with her who she can hit with all the time. She is still figuring all of that out, but at the moment, it looks like she’s really on the right track.
“She’s happy to learn. I mean, she’s like a sponge. She [takes on] every [bit of] information, all the information in.”
The former Austrian number one even discussed Emma Raducanu’s title chances at the French Open later this month arguing that the 19-year-old will be a force to be reckoned with.
“Why shouldn’t she play good tennis on the clay, even though she probably hasn’t practised or hasn’t trained much on it?
“But once that movement is good on the clay, she knows how to slide and she knows how to move towards the ball. And she’s an absolute phenomenal athlete. She can do really well on clay, but I did not expect her going all the way, that’s for sure.
“I don’t think people will expect for Emma Raducanu to win the French Open but, you know, she could definitely be dangerous.”
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