Emma Raducanu comeback date confirmed as she links up with a former coach

Kevin Palmer 01 May 2026 11:22 PM

Emma Raducanu at the Wuhan Open players' party (Wuhan Open/CVG)

There has been plenty of confusion of when Emma Raducanu may return to competitive action, but it seems she will be back on court at next week’s Italian Open.

Raducanu has not played a competitive match since losing heavily against Amanda Anisimova at the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells in early March.

Since then, she has pulled out of a series of tournaments with what was described as an ‘ongoing virus’ that has been troubling her since a tournament in Romania last February.

Inevitably, her lengthy time away from the court has sparked speculation over what the issues affecting the 2021 US Open champion may be, but it seems as if she is finally ready to return. But with the 2021 US Open winner finally set to return, you can get in on the action by using a best betting bonus to wager on her next match.

She has been practicing in Spain ahead of her appearance at the next WTA 1000 tournament in Rome and intriguingly, she has linked up with coach Andrew Richardson in recent days.

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Richardson was the coach who was by her side when she famously lifted that Grand Slam title in New York almost five years ago and she was heavily criticised for parting company with him soon after that success.

Since then, Raducanu has rattled through a succession of coaches and is currently without a primary coach after parting ways with Francisco Roig after the Australian Open in January.

Richardson is not expected to be working with Raducanu on a long-term basis, but his input may be welcome as he is something of a clay court expert in his role as a coach at the Ferrer Tennis Academy near Alicante.

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Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski has backed Raducanu to make a return when the time is right, as he insisted she should try and play some clay court tennis before getting onto the grass in England next month.

“Everybody’s got to manage their body differently. For me, I always believe skinny is strong with a good diet,” said Rusedski on his podcast.

“Novak, at one stage, his team were complaining about him not eating enough. You know, he was just having too much of liquid diet, was too skinny, but then he got the balance with protein, nutrition, everything right to work out the way he wanted to eat.

“And I think that’s what she has to go. She has to figure out, okay, where’s my nutrition? Where’s my supplements? Where’s my physical programme?

“How much tennis, how much gym, and getting that balance right? It’s really tricky because we all have different body types, all different metabolisms.

“Health is your wealth and Emma needs to look at everything she is doing, make some changes if needed, and then I’m convinced she can come back and make an impression.”