Emma Raducanu parted ways with coach Torben Belz after working together for only five months. Citing the need to start a “new training model”, Raducanu will look for a new coach again.
“I want to thank Torben for his coaching, professionalism and dedication over the last half year,” Raducanu said in a statement. He has a huge heart and I enjoyed our strong chemistry over time together.
Raducanu is in Spain for the Madrid Open, a WTA 1000 tournament where the main draw for women starts on Thursday. She was accompanied to Spain by Ian Bates, head of LTA women’s tennis. “I feel that the best direction for my development is to move to a new model of training with LTA support in the meantime,” she said.
The split means Raducanu is now looking for a fourth coach in the last year, which is an unusually quick change even in the volatile coaching carousel of tennis. Raducanu worked with prominent British coach Nigel Sears during her surprise participation in the fourth round of Wimbledon, before hiring Andrew Richardson to support her on her first long trip abroad to the United States last summer. After deciding not to continue working with Richardson, who helped her win the US Open in September, Raducanu hired Balti after a series of trials with various coaches late last year.
When she joined Balti, Raducanu pointed to the need to work with a more experienced coach who could guide her in her unexpected leap to the harshness of the Tour. , known for its positive outlook.
However, his experience seems to have had a limited effect on her for their short time together. Instead, Radukanu’s 2022 season is determined by the difficulty of following such a life-changing victory in New York and her inexperience, which is reflected in her performances and the various injuries she received while her body got used to life in professional tennis. She set a 5-7 record with Beltz this season.
However, the last few weeks have clearly turned in a positive direction, with Raducanu following his first professional victory on clay and his debut for the Billy Jean King Cup in Prague, reaching the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart. In the quarterfinals against the new world number 1, Iga Svyatek, she came down to a worthy defeat with 4-6, 4-6.
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Raducanu prepared in particular for his first season on clay by training for a few days at the famous Piatti Academy in Italy, home of Ricardo Piatti, former coach of Maria Sharapova, who is without a best student after a recent breakup with Yannick Siner. Raducanu downplayed the importance of her stay there during the Billy Jean King Cup, saying she simply used their equipment to cook on glue while Baltz was on holiday with his family.
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