Can Mark Petchey reignite Emma Raducanu’s fluctuating fortunes – and what is the former US Open champion looking for in a coach?
Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, has been without a permanent coach since parting ways with Nick Cavaday in January, but Petchey has emerged as the front-runner after temporarily joining her team at the Miami Open – alongside long-time mentor Jane O’Donoghue – where she reached the quarter-finals.
He will continue to work with Raducanu on an “informal” basis starting at the Madrid Open where she will open her campaign against Dutch world No 73 Suzan Lamens, who recently beat Katie Boulter during the recent Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers.
Petchey, who reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of 80 in August 1994, is a regular contributor to the Tennis Channel, and his impact during the Miami Open was notable.
Raducanu enjoyed wins over top-10 player Emma Navarro and Qatar Open champion Amanda Anisimova before losing to fourth seed Jessica Pegula.
“We’re keeping things informal for now and it’s been working,” Raducanu said. “He’s someone I’ve known for a long time and I do feel like I can trust him.
“For now there is no real thing set in stone but we’re taking it week to week and he’s helping me as much as he can alongside his current commitments.”
Who is Mark Petchey?
Petchey reached world No 80 in August 1994, while his best performance at a Grand Slam came at Wimbledon in 1997 when he lost to Boris Becker in the third round.
He coached an 18-year-old Andy Murray – during which time the Scot won his first ATP Tour title at the 2006 San Jose Open broke into the top 50.
He has also had success on the WTA Tour, working with Silvija Talaja, Tina Pisnik, and Greek star Maria Sakkari.
Petchey decided to move away from working with professional players after relocating to America and taking up a role with the Tennis Channel.
He has also previously worked for Amazon Prime, ITV when they had French Open broadcast rights, BBC during Wimbledon, Sky Sports, Tennis Australia and others.
It is believed that Petchey would still want to continue in this role should he start work with the former US Open winner, though it is uncertain whether that is a possibility.
Can Petchey lead Raducanu to success?
When asked what Petchey had brought to the team in Miami, Raducanu said: “I think just a relaxed environment, but focused when needs to be.
“I’m someone who works really hard and can be really intense, but sometimes too intense. I guess in that way it’s harder to be extremely focused when you need to be on the match court because you’re focused from the first minute to the last.
“So I think just being able to switch off and have fun with them and play Spikeball before the match, and we just create certain routines. Yeah, they bring small doses of happiness that I guess just keep you going, the small things.
Raducanu is keen to create a bubble as she looks for a permanent coaching presence alongside fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura. The hard-working physical trainer has previously trained the legendary Maria Sharapova.
She only played 13 events in 2024 but has already played in seven tournaments this year, with a 7-7 win-loss record. She is up to No 49 in the latest WTA rankings.
Raducanu’s coaching carousel
Raducanu stopped working with Nigel Sears after her run to the second week of Wimbledon as a wild card in 2021 and then parted company with Andrew Richardson shortly after her fairytale run in New York.
She also worked alongside Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs and Cavaday, while her most recent coach lasted just one match with Vladimir Platenik parting ways with the 22-year-old shortly after she crashed out in the opening round at Indian Wells.
The Slovakian coach said the British star had been “feeling stressed” after revealing she “couldn’t see the ball through tears” and could “barely breathe” during a stalking ordeal at the Dubai Open.
“I totally understand Emma, she’s not in an easy position. The world is looking at her after the US Open and everybody is expecting, including herself, what she is going to do next,” Platenik told BBC Sport.
“So for me it’s absolutely understandable that she’s under a lot of pressure. She told me she was feeling stressed.
“She was not feeling OK, and that was her decision. I didn’t want to go into deeper communication about that. I think the player needs to feel good, and the player needs to make a decision. Sometimes you make a good decision, and sometimes bad.”
‘Every decision on big scale’
Raducanu, who recently enjoyed a 10-day training block in Los Angeles with Petchey, admitted she still struggles with the scrutiny that follows every decision she makes.
“It’s really difficult, because I think every decision I make is made on such a big scale that it’s up for judgment,” she said.
“I just need to get to a place where I’m comfortable enough and secure enough in what I’m doing that it doesn’t matter what other people are saying.
“Over the last few years, that is, truthfully, something that I have been kind of toiling with, because I would care about what people think. I think just in general, in my life, like anytime someone’s upset with me or something, it affects me.”
Will clay suit Raducanu’s game?
Laura Robson has backed the British star to shine on clay this year with Raducanu playing only a limited clay-court programme last year, as she opted against playing in qualifying for the French Open in favour of preparing for the grass-court season.
“I’m sure Emma would like to do well on clay and grass this year and play a full schedule,” said Robson.
“Clay is great for developing all areas of the game. Tactically, it’s a great surface to learn how to turn around matches when you are behind in slower conditions.
“Clay conditions change so much depending on the weather and where you are playing.
“Madrid is always so different to Rome and it might be that one set of conditions suits Emma better than the other.”
Watch the Madrid Open – live on Sky Sports
Brits Raducanu, Jack Draper, Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal and Jacob Fearnley are in action at the Madrid Open, while Novak Djokovic will be playing under the watchful eye of coach Andy Murray.
The biggest names in tennis will be competing for the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 titles.
Watch the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as the US Open in New York, live on Sky Sports in 2025 or stream with NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
