Emma Raducanu’s new chapter as she moves away from ‘relaxed’ coaching style
Emma Raducanu’s decision to appoint Francisco Roig as her new coach was a bit of a bolt from the blue as it could see her move away from one of the key traits that made her partnership with Mark Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue a success, according to a top tennis commentator.
2021 US Open champion Raducanu announced this week that Roig has come on board as her full-time coach until the end of the 2025 season following a successful trial period since Wimbledon.
The Spaniard comes with an impressive CV as he was part of the great Rafael Nadal’s coaching set-up from 2005 until 2022 with the legend winning 22 Grand Slams during that period.
Roig then had stints coaching former US Open winner Sloane Stephens and Matteo Berrettini, but he has not coached anyone since parting ways with Berrettini in October 2024.
Raducanu, meanwhile, has been working with Petchey and O’Donoghue in recent months with the former joining her in March this year while O’Donoghue has worked with her on and off.
Petchey, though, had made it clear that the agreement was not on a full-time basis as he was unable to travel with the 22-year-old to all tournaments as he remains committed to his job as a commentator in the United States.
So the decision to name a new mentor was not a big surprise, but the choice of coach was a bit of a shock as Roig’s coaching style is different from that of Petchey and O’Donoghue as Raducanu has mentioned in the past that she likes to work with people she has known for a long time and prefers a more relaxed approach.
Roig, though, is known to be more technical and disciplined and Sky Sports commentator Jonathan Overend says it feels like Raducanu is moving in a different direction in terms of coaching.
“It’s an appointment which is a little bit of a surprise mostly because of the reasons she talked about when she was enjoying her spell with Mark Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue, she talked about the need to really get along with the members of her team, for the atmosphere to be good, and almost playful in a way and it did feel when the atmosphere is like that and she feels relaxed, maybe that’s what brings the best out of her,” said Overend.
“To go for a coach with a lot more experience in the game, a foreign coach, not for the first time of her career, she’s looking to draw on the experience Roig has.
“There must be something about the relationship which clicked when she spoke to him because it would be a huge surprise if she went with someone with whom the atmosphere maybe goes to how it was with some of her previous coaches. I’m not saying that wouldn’t work but it would be a surprise given her words during the Petchey experiment.”
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But there is no doubt that Roig will help Raducanu – who is currently at No 39 in the WTA Rankings – to improve further.
Following a difficult couple of years, Raducanu started to move in the right direction as she had great success with Nick Cavaday, who started working with her ahead of the 2024 season. However, he stepped down after this year’s Australian Open due to health issues.
But Petchey and O’Donoghue continued the good work and now Roig is tasked to lead her further up the rankings.
Overend added: “Roig was the guy who was in the practice courts, behind the scenes, offering a lot of the strategic advice. Undoubtedly, he has a wealth of experience that he can bring to Emma Raducanu as she continues to develop her game.”
