Emma Raducanu splits with latest coach after 14 days and just ONE match

Emma Raducanu is on the hunt for the eighth coach of her career having split with new coach Vladimir Platenik after only 14 days and one match.

Raducanu appointed the Slovakian coach prior to Indian Wells where she fell to a first-round defeat against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.

The pair then spent a week training in preparation for the Miami Open, but Platenik was nowhere to be seen in Raducanu’s box for her first-round match against wildcard Sayaka Ishii.

And after racing to a comfortable 6-2 6-1 win against her opponent, Raducanu’s team confirmed that the two had gone their separate ways after just 14 days.

A statement read: ‘Emma and Vlado have parted ways. Emma has utmost respect for Vlado and the work they started but it wasn’t quite heading in the right direction.

‘Emma is now focused on doing as well as she can here in Miami after her a solid start today and will continue looking for the right coach.’

The 22-year-old had been operating without a full-time coach after Nick Cavaday left the role following the Australian Open over health reasons.

Her partnership with Platenik was reported to last until at least the French Open in May, with their sudden split leaving Raducanu already searching for the eighth coach of a career.

Just days into his new role, Platenik gave an interview in which he claimed he had turned down Raducanu previously as he feared the job would be ‘coaching suicide’.

‘Emma also approached me in a similar situation right after a great success (winning the 2021 US Open), which is why I said it could be coaching suicide,’ Platenik told Slovakian newspaper Dennik N.

‘But now she is in a completely different position. She’s already gone through hell, she’s already been through the worst.’

Raducanu did not address the split in her brief post-match interview but said her build to this tournament ‘hadn’t been easy’.

‘I was just so focused on every point and trying to compete,’ she added, speaking to Sky Sports.

‘That was my main objective today, just trying my best every point and bringing some energy, bringing some competitiveness.

‘I think that’s maybe been missing in the past couple of months. I’m really proud of that. It’s just nice to win in two sets and less than two and a half hours.’

Asked about her second-round opponent, World No.10 Emma Navarro, Raducanu said: ‘It’s deceiving how hard she hits the backhand, with the forehand she can do a lot with the ball – a lot of variety.

‘I think in a way we’re quite similar in terms of our build and our games. I think it will be an interesting game and one that I’ll look forward to and, I guess, one that right now I don’t have pressure on.’

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