What Rafael Nadal said about Emma Raducanu’s new coach after 17-year partnership
Emma Raducanu’s new coach is certainly not lacking in experience.
The Brit surprised many this week by hiring Francisco Roig, with the two set to start working together at this week’s Cincinnati Open.
Roig has worked with the likes of Matteo Berrettini and Sloane Stephens in recent years, but is most famous for his time spent working with one man: Rafael Nadal.
After calling time on his playing career, the 57-year-old began working with Nadal in early 2005.
Just months into their partnership, the ‘King of Clay’ won the first of his 14 French Open titles and would go on to achieve a staggering level of success across his career.
Nadal won 22 Grand Slam titles, Olympic gold in both singles and doubles, and spent 2009 weeks as the ATP world No 1, with Roig an imperative figure in his box.
While he was never Nadal’s lead coach, Roig was the only person present in Nadal’s entourage for all 22 of his Grand Slam victories.
Nadal’s long-time coach, ‘Uncle’ Toni Nadal, parted ways with his nephew at the end of 2017, by which time the Spaniard had lifted 16 majors.
While the likes of Carlos Moya and Marc Lopez would step in to take leading roles with the tennis great, Roig remained a permanent figure until parting ways with Nadal in 2022.
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Nadal marked the end of their 17-year partnership with a poignant message on social media, expressing just how “grateful” he was to Roig for his guidance throughout his success.
“I want to inform you that Francis Roig is leaving my team and starting a new personal project as a coach,” wrote Nadal.
“He started joining the team and worked with us together with my Uncle Toni and later with Carlos Moyá and recently Marc López.
“Francis has been an important person in my career and I am very grateful to him for all these years of work and friendship.
“When we started working together I was a child and together with my Uncle Toni, we started on the circuit. Francis is a great coach who knows tennis very well and has helped me a lot to get better and better.
“I only have words of gratitude and I wish him all the luck in the world in his new project!”
While Roig’s partnership with Stephens, his first move after parting ways with Nadal, was short-lived, he guided Berrettini to three ATP titles in 2024 before their split.
Raducanu’s coaching changes and manoeuvres have often attracted significant attention, though this hire undoubtedly signals a statement of intent.
To hire a coach who worked with one of the definitive all-time greats of the sport is undoubtedly a huge coup, and the reverence in which Nadal clearly holds Roig is telling.
Roig was there for the ups and downs of the Spaniard’s career, not only present for his Grand Slam success but also during the dips in form and injury issues that plagued the 22-time major winner even at his peak.
Raducanu’s career has been done in reverse and is rather an outlier in the modern age, though Roig’s experience and knowledge accrued with Nadal should be hugely beneficial.
Nadal claimed in his tribute three years ago that Roig made him “better and better” as a player; now, all eyes will be on whether the former US Open champion can make similar inroads.
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