Renowned coach tells Emma Raducanu key change she must make to achieve her potential
Top coach Patrick Mouratoglou has warned Emma Raducanu she is “not going to be able to achieve her potential” if she does not “find stability around her.”
The Frenchman believes the frequent switches Raducanu has made in her coaching team have “hurt her so much” and declared “changing project every three months doesn’t make sense.”
Raducanu, who is currently ranked 298th, parted ways with her fifth coach in two years after splitting with Sebastian Sachs in June and is yet to appoint a new coach.
Raducanu previously worked with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and Dimitry Tursunov. Richardson coached Raducanu to her stunning victory at Flushing Meadows in 2021, where she won the title without dropping a set as a qualifier.
The 21-year-old missed most of the 2023 season due to injury and underwent surgery on both her wrists and her ankle in May. She played just 10 matches across five tournaments this year and posted a 5-5 record.
The Brit is set to make her long-awaited comeback next month at the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland, which will run from 1-7 January.
Mouratoglou, who has coached tennis legend Serena Williams, highlighted what he feels Raducanu must do when she returns and expressed his hope to see her succeed.
“I know that Raducanu is coming back which is great news for British tennis,” Mouratoglou told Sky Sports.
“She has suffered a lot both in her tennis, in her results and after that with injuries, but I hope she can find some stability around her because without stability she’s not going to be able to achieve her potential and that would be sad.
“Let’s hope that she can stay injury free at the start of the season and that she can find someone who can help her fall in love with the game and tennis again for her future.”
The 53-year-old also revealed he had not considered the possibility of coaching Raducanu himself, but stressed the former world No 10 must place her trust in her next coach.
“I don’t know,” Mouratoglou said. “I haven’t thought about it but all I can say is is she ready to trust someone?
“Can she trust a project and to follow that project for long enough to be able to make real progress that she needs to do in order to achieve her potential?
“What hurt her so much is all those changes because you cannot change your tennis project every three months, it doesn’t make sense.
“I understand it’s not easy to trust someone but that’s also what makes the careers of players. They have the ability to stick to people that they believe in, to a project they believe in and not change whenever there is anything wrong because it’s a marathon.
“You have to accept that during a marathon you have ups and downs and every time you have a little down you get rid of the people, you can’t reach the finish line in one day.”
Mouratoglou, who coaches at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in France, has worked with several tennis stars, including Serena Williams, Simona Halep, Coco Gauff, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune.
READ MORE: Renowned coach offers to make Emma Raducanu ‘bulletproof’ and help her win ‘again and again’
