Emma Raducanu, after her defeat in the third round of the National Bank Open in Montreal, has added Francis Roig, former coach of Rafael Nadal, to her team permanently.
The 2021 US Open winner has been working with British coach Mark Petchey since March, achieving positive results. However, Petchey’s television commitments prevented him from being Raducanu’s full-time coach.
After a trial with Roig after Wimbledon, the tennis player will begin working with him in Cincinnati this week, after agreeing to a contract until the end of 2025.
Raducanu has struggled to settle with a coach in recent years, until her part-time work with Petchey began to yield results earlier this season.Roig was part of Rafael Nadal’s coaching team for most of the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s career.
An appearance in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 at the Miami Open in March was followed by a round of 16 at the Italian Open before reaching the quarterfinals at the first women’s tournament at the Queen’s Club.
Aryna Sabalenka proved to be too strong for Raducanu in the third round of Wimbledon, but this was backed up by a semi-final at the Citi Open, while the British number 1 aims to be seeded at the US Open later this month.
Television commentator Petchey, who worked with Andy Murray at the start of his career, revealed in July that Raducanu would need to find a full-time coach soon and has done so in Roig.
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The Spanish coach Roig worked with Nadal alongside Nadal’s uncle, Toni, for most of the career of the 22-time Grand Slam champion and, more recently, was part of Matteo Berrettini’s support team.
Raducanu will remain in contact with Petchey, but focuses her attention on climbing the WTA ranking with a good performance at the Cincinnati Open over the next two weeks.
