Emma Raducanu does not need a new coach – she needs two

The 22-year-old should look at how some of the world’s best have approached their coaching set-up and take note

Emma Raducanu doesn’t have a coach, for the moment. But she could do a lot worse than copying some of the best players in the world when it comes to a decision.

That does not necessarily mean appointing Andy Murray, like Novak Djokovic has, or a former world No 1, like Carlos Alcaraz. But Raducanu should look at how some of the world’s best have approached their coaching set-up and take note.

It had been stable year for the British No 2, in terms of coaching at least. Having gone through six coaches in her first three seasons on tour, she stuck with Nick Cavaday for the whole of the last campaign, before they announced a split after this year’s Australian Open. Cavaday has been dealing with a chronic illness and he finally conceded that he could not balance his own health with a full-time tennis touring schedule.

It is believed a watered-down schedule might have been workable for the British coach, who previously worked with Raducanu when she was a junior, but Raducanu is understood to prefer a coach who can offer a constant voice at each and every tournament.

They are not easy to find these days, with the tennis tour increasingly unceasing. Pre-season starts at the end of November and coaches are expected to spend Christmas and New Year away from home and family with tournaments starting in late December. They continue, without relent, until the WTA Finals in the first week of November.

There is almost no break, and the men’s tour is no different. No wonder players are burning out. And so are the coaches, so much so that most top players – i.e. the ones who can afford it – are trying to lighten the load on their most valued employees.

Djokovic brought Murray into his team ahead of the Australian Open, and spent a week training with him in Spain before Christmas, but allowed the Scot to head home for Christmas and learn to ski for a few days with his family. He even missed their first tournament in Brisbane, before joining the Serb in Melbourne for the major.

Djokovic was not alone though, because he also has coach Boris Bosnjakovic working with him. Even Alcaraz, to whom coach Juan Carlos Ferrero is like a second father, has been known to give his surrogate Dad weeks off and allow Samuel Lopez to take the reins, just as he did at Queen’s last year and will again in Rotterdam next week.

And it seems to work pretty well for Jannik Sinner, even across a language barrier. In 2023, the coach of the year award was shared by Italy’s Simone Vagnozzi and Australia’s Darren Cahill.

The latter is due to retire at the end of 2025 but it is expected that Sinner will add a replacement rather than just working with a solo coach, an endorsement of the system that has gained him three grand slams and world No 1 status.

Raducanu would love to follow in his footsteps, and would do well to heed them. She has already found one man willing to do the hard yards with her; Yutaka Nakamura, her new full-time fitness coach, is a seasoned tourist who has previously worked with Maria Sharapova, Naomi Osaka and a host of other top players.

But he is not a tennis coach and Raducanu will work this week in Abu Dhabi with Roman Kelecic, another figure from her junior career, who travelled alongside her for several years. But Kelecic is only a temporary placeholder and is based in Dubai, making him a convenient locum for Raducanu.