Emma Raducanu had made a ‘significant’ improvement since adding Mark Petechy to her coaching team
Emma Raducanu’s form has moved in the right direction since she added Mark Petchey to her coaching team and one area of her game has seen a significant improvement.
Raducanu struggled badly with her serve in the opening weeks of 2025, with double faults a persistent feature of performances that included a few too many defeats.
Former British Davis Cup player Petchey was added to her coaching team at the Miami Open last month and he had an instant impact on Raducanu’s serve as she made it through to the quarter-finals of the WTA Tour event.
The improved service motion was also on display at the Madrid Open and even though the 22-year-old lost in the second round at the Miami Open against Marta Kostyuk, former top 20 doubles player Colin Fleming noticed a big improvement in her serve.
“She’s gone back to her more natural service motion since working with Mark Petchey recently. She has done a bit of work with Nick Cavaday [former coach] on adjusting the motion,” said Fleming on Sky Sports Tennis.
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“She’s always had a natural, flowing rhythmic service motion, and it became a bit more abbreviated with the work under Cavaday. I understand why! Trying to get the serve bigger, more impactful during matches. It’s back to that longer, flowing rhythm.”
The change has clearly helped Raducanu and it should serve her well when she gets onto her favourved grass courts in Britain in June.
While Fleming suggested Raducanu will be frustrated by her defeat in Madrid, he went on to claim she will be encouraged by her performance on clay courts.
“Emma Raducanu is a competitor. She’ll be disappointed at this stage but I think when the dust settles there’s a lot to take from this match,” he added.
“This was a good level at times on a surface where she hasn’t played a lot of tennis recently.
“If she can keep working, keep finding her feet in the clay, her movement, her balance and just comfort on this surface. I think she can still have some great results in this clay-court season and I think it will serve her well for beyond that into the grass and the hard. A lot of positives to take from this one.”
Raducanu is set to play at the WTA 1000 event in Rome ahead of the French Open at the end of May, even though she admits she still does not feel comfortable on clay courts.
“I think it’s positive to get through and play two matches on the outdoor clay courts,” said Raducanu.
“I would say that it is pretty noticeable to me that I don’t necessarily feel very comfortable, but I think that’s something that I can improve on and work on.
“And it is my second proper clay season and the first one in three years. So I think I’m just trying to give myself a chance to play as many points as I can on it, and also [I need] time on the court training as well.”
She went on to add that she is still finding her feet on clay as she said: “I found moving really difficult. I felt like I was slipping around, but it was taking me a long time to get out of the corners and after the serve as well.
“I’m not really sure how to improve that, so I guess I’ll just take that back and try to work on it in the next week.”
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