Emma Raducanu news: Tennis pundit doesn’t think Brit needs a coach to be dangerous

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Emma Raducanu

Former world No 7 Barbara Schett doesn’t think British sensation Emma Raducanu needs a long term tennis coach right now in order to be successful or dangerous on court.

At the end of last month the US Open champion split with her coach Torben Beltz and there’s been speculation over who she is going to appoint next with tournaments like the French Open and Wimbledon fast approaching.

However, the former Austrian player doesn’t think the 19-year-old needs to rush a new appointment and believes she’s learnt enough from her previous coaches to go it alone for a while.

“It was a bit of a shock to hear that she split with Torben Beltz but you never know, you have to work with somebody together for a few months to actually see if you’re fitting or not. That could have been cultural differences – Torben is from Germany and Emma Raducanu is from the UK,” the 46-year-old told Eurosport.

“Even though Emma has had a few coaches along the way in the last year or two, she’s been really inhaling some sort of information from each and every one of them which actually makes her a bit of a better tennis player and I think it shows in her form now.

“Maybe she is a player who doesn’t need a full time coach, maybe she needs a hitting partner who travels with her who she can hit with all the time. She’s like a sponge, she sucks every information, all the information in and why shouldn’t she play good tennis on the clay even though she probably hasn’t practiced or hasn’t trained on it?”

Schett doesn’t think Raducanu is going to recreate her US Open win at Roland Garros this month, but she predicts the world No 11 will have a successful run in the remaining Grand Slams this year.

“I don’t think people will expect Emma Raducanu to win the French Open but you know she could definitely be dangerous. We know a Grand Slam tournament is always different and especially in the women’s side things or draw or sections do always open up somehow,” Schett added.

“But the big challenge will definitely be Wimbledon for Emma Raducanu, I think if she could reach a semi final that would be unbelievable. I don’t think people should, especially people in the UK should think, ‘Okay she’s going to win Wimbledon.’

“That’s a little bit too big of a task, but I think if she can just block out that whole stress or all the people around her who want something from her, if she can block out all the expectation from all the other people, then she’s going to be a winner.

Raducanu plays her third round at the Madrid Open later today and she will face Anhelina Kalinina from Ukraine.

Barbara Schett Emma Raducanu

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