Emma Raducanu dubbed ‘stubborn’ after ‘dubious decision’ as former coach opens up following US Open nightmare

Emma Raducanu’s former coach, Mark Petchey, has admitted the tennis star is ‘stubborn’ but has backed her to bounce back following her recent nightmare at the US Open.

The 21-year-old had gone into the final major of the year hoping to summon the same magic that saw her win the competition three years ago.

However, Raducanu struggled and was sent crashing out by Sofia Kenin in the first round.

She has been widely criticised by pundits in the time since, especially given how she played just one hard-court tournament beforehand.

Petchey knows all about Raducanu, having previously coached the tennis star.

He admits that she can be ‘stubborn’ but believes the ‘bumpy ride’ can set her in good stead going forward, while also defending some of her decision-making.

“I’m a big believer that you don’t really make mistakes at Emma Raducanu’s age,” he exclusively told GB News, via Bally Casino.

“I think you make decisions and then you see solutions and that’s where we find ourselves with Emma at the moment and where she finds herself.

I always said right after she had the fairytale run in New York that she was going to have a pretty bumpy couple of years.

“But I hoped that some things would have been different and not quite so rough for her, as I’m sure the people around her would have hoped for too.

“She’s stubborn in certain areas which is a great quality in tennis, you need that. You need to have a certain self-reliance; you need to be able to put things to one side and entertain thoughts that you don’t necessarily always need to implement into your game, but you must consider things.

“I’m sure she now wishes that some things had been different.

But the reality of life is that if you find yourself at a crossroads, you need to make another decision about how you go forward from here.

“From Emma’s perspective right now, there’s no point looking back over the last couple of years overthinking, it’s all wasted energy.

“Hopefully, the bumpy ride has shown her a roadmap or a signpost of where she wants to go from here to progress as a player.”

As mentioned above, Raducanu’s decision to play just one hard-court competition before the US Open has attracted controversy.

Petchey admits that was a ‘dubious decision’.

But he also thinks Raducanu would have now learnt from that mistake.

“I think it was a dubious decision to not play any of the lead-up tournaments ahead of the US Open,” he continued.

“I can only assume in the aftermath of the tournament that she has realised that and won’t make that mistake again going forward.

Overall, I think Emma just needs to put all the information that she’s garnered over the last couple of years to good use.

She shouldn’t look at it as a negative, but see it as a positive, a learning curve.

“I think there are huge positives to take out of what’s happened over the last couple of years that will make the rest of her career a lot smoother as she climbs her way back to the top of the game.

“I have absolutely no doubt that she belongs at the top of tennis and I’m sure she will be back at those heights in the not-so-distant future.”