Emma Raducanu closes in on rankings jump as she wins first match after coach split
Emma Raducanu started life without Francisco Roig in her player box with an excellent win over Greet Minnen at the Transylvania Open.
Following her second-round exit from the Australian Open, Raducanu announced that she had split from respected coach Roig saying in a short statement that “we have come to the conclusion together that we ought not to move forward”.
The Spaniard, who was part of the great Rafael Nadal’s coaching set-up when he was at the peak of his powers, only started working with the 2021 US Open last August and there were clear signs of progress as she returned to the top 30 of the WTA Rankings under his guidance.
But there were hints of Raducanu struggling without Roig in Cluj-Napoca withformer British professional player Alexis Canter helping her out in Romania.
She was in control from the start as she defeated world No 125 Minnen 6-0, 6-4 to set up a second-round encounter against Kaja Juvan.
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“Very happy today. I think I played a great match from the beginning. I was super aggressive and the crowd from the minute I walked out was incredible,” the 23-year-old said after her win in Romania.
“I think today was a great performance. I wanted to put my game out on the court and it’s a little bit easier indoors so I’m really pleased I could kind of use that.
“I played a really tricky opponent in Greet, who really starts the point well, so I knew I had to do the same and pleased that I stayed with it.”
What Does It Mean For Raducanu’s Ranking?
Raducanu dropped one place in the WTA Rankings to No 30 following her defeat to Anastasia Potapova at the season-opening Grand Slam at Melbourne Park and she sits on 1,547 points.
Players earn one point for featuring in the first round of WTA 250 events, but Raducanu also dropped one point from her Abu Dhabi campaign from 12 months ago as the WTA uses a 52-week rolling, cumulative system.
It means there was no movement in her position in the rankings, but by reaching the second round she is assured of adding at least 30 points and that will result in a two-place climb to No 28 in the Live Rankings.
If she beats Juvan and reaches the quarter-final, then she will move to 1,591 points and that could push her up another place to No 27.
