Emma Raducanu, after her loss in the third round of the National Bank Open in Montreal.
British tennis player Emma Raducanu has added experienced Spanish coach Francis Roig, who was Rafael Nadal’s coach, to her team ahead of this month’s US Open.
Raducanu, winner of the US Open in 2021, has been working with British coach Mark Petchey informally since March, achieving positive results.
However, Petchey’s television commitments prevented him from being Raducanu’s full-time coach. After a trial period with Roig following 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 find a stable coach in recent years, until her part-time work with Petchey began to yield positive results earlier this season.Francis Roig, who was part of Rafael Nadal’s coaching team for a large part of his successful career.
Her performance included an appearance in the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 at the Miami Open in March, 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, as the British number 1 focuses on being seeded at the US Open.
Television commentator Petchey, who worked with Andy Murray at the beginning of his career, revealed in July that Raducanu would need to find a full-time coach soon, and she has done so with Roig.
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 team.
Raducanu will stay close to Petchey, but is now focused on climbing the WTA rankings with a good performance at the Cincinnati Open over the next two weeks.
