Why Emma Raducanu has turned to Iain Bates after split with Torben Beltz

WTA Tour
Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu is weighing up a new coaching set-up once again, after cutting ties with Torben Beltz after just five months.

The US Open champion stated she is looking to build a ‘new training model’ after ending her time with Beltz ahead of her appearance at the Madrid Open.

“I want to thank Torben for his coaching, professionalism and dedication over the last half a year,” said Raducanu in a statement. “He has a huge heart and I have enjoyed our strong chemistry during the time together.

“I feel the best direction for my development is to transition to a new training model with the LTA supporting in the interim.”

Raducanu is striving to find the best coaching solution after some failed experiments with coaches since her run to US Open glory under the watch of Andrew Richardson last September.

The teenager dispensed with Richardson’s services after her heroics in New York, amid reports that she wanted to work with a coach who has experience at the highest level of the game.

Now she will work with a familiar face in Bates, who is head of women’s tennis at the LTA and has been a presence in Raducanu’s development in the high-quality coaching set-up at the National Tennis Centre in south London.

“The speed and acceleration that she has put into her career are astonishing. She was ranked 350 back in the summer and is now going to be breaking the top 50,” said Bates after Raducanu’s US Open win last year.

“I always believed she had a great shot of having a fantastic career but the speed at which she has done things has been truly remarkable and quite incredible.

“The thing that impressed me most at the US Open was her mentality, her composure in dealing with everything she was faced with. Secondly how she was just almost learning on the job. How calm she stayed in the moment embracing everything that was in front of her.

“I think everybody can see how good her tennis is, but to cope with those other elements as a young woman playing her first overseas (Grand) Slam stood out a mile.”

Raducanu has persistently credited the LTA for playing a key role in her rise to the top and now she is tapping into their resources again as she looks to build a coaching plan that works for her.

Reports suggest that may not include a permanent full-time coach, but this appears to be a fluid situation for a player still finding her feet on the WTA Tour.

Raducanu will start her Madrid Open campaign against the Czech Republic’s Tereza Martincova, the player she beat on the Billie Jean King Cup debut for Great Britain earlier this month.

Emma Raducanu

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