Mark Petchey believes he has identified the key to Emma Raducanu winning a Grand Slam again and that's adjusting better to playing against the big hitters.
After working with Petchey between March and July, Raducanu hired Rafael Nadal's ex-coach of 17 years, Francisco Roig. And in their very first Grand Slam as a duo, the British tennis player got off to a lightning start as she destroyed Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-2 before also crushing Janice Tjen 6-2 6-1. But what looked like a potentially major run for the 22-year-old, came to a crushing end in the third round after Elena Rybakina annihilated the Briton 6-1 6-2.
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Before losing to Rybakina at the US Open, Raducanu also picked up losses to Amanda Anisimova in Montreal and Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati. As you all know, all of those three mentioned are some of the biggest hitters in the women's game.
Petchey: These power players are making life difficult for Raducanu
"We're in an era of big hitters - we talk about the pace of shots, from both Sabalenka and Anisimova. These power players that make life difficult for Emma where they do rush her and are going to make things tricky. But it's just motivation for her to keep working on the things that she has been doing," Petchey told Sky Sports.
"From Emma's point of view her best style of winning matches is up on the baseline redirecting the ball, moving it around, trying to get the opponent to move before they get a chance to set on the ball. That's obviously something that she's going to have to keep getting better at."
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At the US Open, Raducanu highlighted that her primary focus was on "improving" as a player and reaching the point where she's legitimately contending for the biggest wins. The 22-year-old's development surely won't happen overnight, but elevating her game to the new heights is a must if she wants to make some great things in the future.
