Emma Raducanu: Martina Navratilova says British tennis player should 'commit' to coach ahead of Washington Open

16.07.2025, 09:07 skysports.com

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova says Emma Raducanu must "commit" to a coach for at least a year after Mark Petchey ruled himself out of a permanent role.

Raducanu has played some of her best tennis since liking up with Petchey on an informal basis in March, most recently pushing Aryna Sabalenka hard in her straight-sets defeat to the world No 1 in the third round at Wimbledon.

Petchey revealed his TV commitments mean he cannot take a full-time role to coach Raducanu, who will next play at the Washington Open which begins on Monday - live on Sky Sports Tennis.

"Commit to a year, if you like the person, if you know them and what they can bring to your game, then you need to really buy in and stick with it and make sure you're doing your part as far as training, fitness, eating all of that," Navratilova told Sky Sports News.

"She's got the talent and she did play better tennis against Sabalenka. She's going in the right direction now."

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Raducanu's first coach was Nigel Sears, who left after she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021, before securing her maiden Grand Slam title in New York with Andrew Richardson two months later.

Torben Beltz had a short spell as her coach between November 2021 and April 2022, before being replaced by Dimitri Tursunov, who warned of "red flags" if Raducanu continued to listen to too many voices.

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Sebastian Sachs lasted just the first half of 2023 as Raducanu's coach before reuniting with Nick Cavaday, who mentored her as a junior, last year.

However, Cavaday stepped back at the start of this season in January for health reasons but worked with Raducanu again during the grass-court season, alongside Petchey.

Navratilova said: "She needs to stick with somebody longer because when you work with somebody, it takes a while for them to incorporate into their game and then get the results.

"When you start a new training regime, you don't immediately go faster or get stronger. I just think she needs to really take charge of her life, make sure that she's the one that's making all the decisions for herself, and then stick with somebody."

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Britain's Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong has worked with Raducanu on and off court, and she said: "It obviously is important and we've seen the positive impact Petch has had on her over the last few weeks.

"Equally, it's not that straightforward. Hopefully she's clearer than ever of what is required in terms of what kind of team she wants around her and she finds that. If they can find a way to make it work, then that would be brilliant."

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