Emma Raducanu makes bold Grand Slam claim following ‘tough’ coach split
Emma Raducanu has opened up about her recent decision to split from coach Torben Beltz as she looked ahead to the rest of the season and the upcoming Grand Slams claiming that she is her “own coach”.
On Tuesday, the 19-year-old tennis star announced that she was to end her partnership with German coach Torben Beltz after just five months of working together.
It is the third coach which the British number one 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.
Speaking before this week’s Madrid Open, Emma Raducanu has now opened up about her “tough” decision to split from Beltz, insisting that the pair parted on good terms.
“Torben is a great guy. I really enjoyed my time with him on and off the court. He is one of the nicest people I’ve met so obviously it was a tough one to split with someone like that.
“I think Torben has been great for me because when I wanted someone with tour experience, I think for my first six months on the tour, it was very valuable.”
Reflecting on her run to the last eight at the Stuttgart Open, where she was beaten by world number one Iga Swiatek, Raducanu admitted that there are certain areas of her game she needs to improve if she is to compete with the world’s best.
“I think going forward I’ll probably be putting a lot more emphasis on sparring. It is becoming more apparent to me as I spend more time on the tour is just getting used to these girls’ ball speed.
“I felt like in my quarter-final match, I was just trying to get used to the ball speed in the first few games and had a bit of a slow start because of that.”
The teen sensation continued, claiming she is ready to play the French Open and Wimbledon this summer without a “conventional” coach.
When asked if she would be concerned if she went into the summer Grand Slams without a full-time coach, Raducanu told reporters she is “comfortable” without an appointed coach, believing she is her “own coach”.
“To be honest, no. I am very comfortable with how I am training right now and I feel like the work I have been doing has been extremely specific in the last weeks. I feel like I don’t really need a conventional-just-this-title: ‘Emma Raducanu’s coach’.
“I feel like that from a young age, I haven’t necessarily always had a coach and when I was training alone growing up, I had to learn to be my own coach very early on. I feel that is something that I am pretty good at and a lot of the time I feel that I know all the answers that I am coming to myself.
“Of course a coach’s experience is very valuable at certain times but the majority of the time i feel that I already know the answer that I am asking the question to. I feel like I am easy. I am not necessarily stressing or panicking to find a new coach.”
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