Martina Navratilova has delivered her verdict on Emma Raducanu and her new coach, having departed New York just last week.
It marked yet another solid showing from the British number one at the US Open, who continued an impressive trend of avoiding an early defeat.
She has yet to lose in the first round of an event since March, when she was beaten by Moyuka Uchijima at Indian Wells; a much-improved run after so many years of inconsistency in both her form and fitness.
Much of this resurgence is owed to her partnership with Mark Petchey, but after Wimbledon, she was once again left without a mentor due to external commitments.
This has seen Francisco Roig employed in his place, with Navratilova now giving her thoughts on the first few months of their partnership.
Martina Navratilova gives her opinion on Emma Raducanu’s new coach
Speaking to Sky Sports, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion did admit that she has yet to speak to the Spaniard.
And yet, she remains certain that he will provide one thing to Emma Raducanu.
Navratilova claimed: “Well I haven’t spoken to him [Roig] so I don’t know exactly what his mentality or philosophy on tennis is, but he’s been there for so many years with top players, with Nadal, and he certainly has the experience.
“I think you need to give it some time – you can’t after a month judge whether somebody’s a good fit or not – you should kind of know what their philosophy is before you sign up with them and then you need to buy into it and trust the process and trust in the coach that he or she knows what they’re doing and let it play out and take responsibility for yourself as well.”
After losing at the US Open to Elena Rybakina, Raducanu revealed how long she is now planning to work with Roig initially.
What is Emma Raducanu’s next tournament after the US Open?
Due to her exit midway through the first week, Raducanu has been afforded crucial time to take to the practice courts with Roig.
After all, since joining up with him after Wimbledon, they have hardly had an extended period to instil his values and work on what he has noticed about her.
She went deep in Washington, before then playing both the Canadian and Cincinnati Open before heading to New York.
Roig will now have plenty of data and opinions on her game, and will have a new focus for her development.
Raducanu’s next tournament is due to be the Korea Open, which starts on the 15th of September.
She reached the quarter-final of that event last year, but was forced to retire with a foot injury during her match with Daria Kasatkina.
