‘Second Service’ tennis news: Emma Raducanu received key advice from Andy Murray to reignite career, Davis Cup to be brought into ATP calendar following historic agreement
Looking back on the big tennis news in our exclusive ‘Second Service’… Emma Raducanu received key advice from Andy Murray to reignite career, as Davis Cup set to be brought into ATP calendar, and more.
To start this tennis news roundup, Andy Murray has urged Emma Raducanu to pick a coach and stick with them if she ever wants to see lasting improvement.
Raducanu burst onto the scene in 2020 when she won the US Open to become the first ever qualifier to win a major.
Her career has stalled since then, although many have put that down to her inability to find a coach she enjoys working with
Murray, though, believes the time has come for Raducanu to knuckle down and put in the ground work to see some lasting improvement.
“I think with any relationship, whether it’s strength and conditioning or tennis, it’s making sure you’re spending enough time with that person to really make a difference,” Murray said.
In other tennis news, The Davis Cup will be incorporated into the ATP calendar for the first time from next year due to a historic agreement.
Although the Davis Cup is well established among tennis’ most beloved events, it has always existed outside of the regular calendar.
That has created scheduling problems for players, especially since it went to a week-long finals format that happens after the traditional end of the season.
However, tournament promotors Kosmos have agreed a deal with the ATP and ITF to align it with the men’s tennis calendar.
Read what else he had to say here.
Furthermore, Andy Murray admitted he cannot see any kind of ‘perfect end’ for his tennis career.
This year has left many of tennis’ stars confronting the realisation that there are fewer days ahead in their careers than there are behind, and Murray is certainly not immune to that.
“I’m aware that I’m not going to be able to play forever,” Murray told Eurosport. “I know that. From this year, the way people finish is different for everyone. It’s very rare that you get a perfect ending.
“Serena had a good run at the US Open, played well and had some great results. Roger finished on the same side of the net as his biggest rival for Team Europe. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finishing in France and Gilles also finishing in France in front of a great atmosphere.
To finish off, Martina Navratilova believes Iga Swiatek is ‘never going to beat herself,’ and that consistency is what makes her so successful.
Swiatek has firmly established herself as the top women’s player on the planet since Ash Barty retired earlier this year.
She won a second French Open in June and backed that up with a first hardcourt major at the US Open. In total, she has won eight WTA titles in 2022 and she has barely even looked beatable for much of the season.
“She’s got pretty compact strokes, even though she puts a lot of topspin on that forehand,” Navratilova explained.
“It’s not a massive swing, so she can deal with the faster court. Growing up in Poland, she probably would have practiced a lot on faster courts so she can adapt to that.
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