Heavy balls to blame for Emma Raducanu's lack of success, says her coach

Telegraph

3 days ago

Emma Raducanu's coach has responded to criticism of her performance against Iga Swiatek on Wednesday with a passionate defence, arguing that public expectations are pitched too high.
Mark Petchey stressed the quality of Swiatek's play in Wednesday's 6-1, 6-2 beatdown at the French Open, while also suggesting that Raducanu needs two more years to build an all-round game.
'It's tough on Emma as I still feel everyone is living in 2021,' Petchey said on TNT Sports, the channel where he works as a pundit at Roland Garros.
'The game has changed massively, the balls are four times heavier than back in 2021 and Emma isn't the biggest hitter out there. If you can't put the ball through the court on a windy, heavy clay-court day against someone like Iga, you're going to get into all sorts of trouble.
'Against Iga and Coco [Gauff, who beat Raducanu by exactly the same scoreline in Rome a fortnight ago], she knows what she has to do and it will take a long time. My mantra to her has been: 'You are starting your career now. Everyone is judging you on what happened in 2021 but the reality is, I want to see you building a career here where people judge you in two years.''
When she came into the interview room, Raducanu was honest in her assessment of this second-round match, admitting that she had felt 'exposed' by the quality of Swiatek's play, before adding: 'I just don't know what to do in the moment'. She also pointed out: 'There is a big difference as you go up into the top five and then playing, like, slam champions. It is a completely different ball game.'
Not on my court! 💪
Four-time champion Iga Swiatek sweeps past Raducanu in the second round! 👊🎾 #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/sGCY8r3URV
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 28, 2025
Petchey echoed these words in his defence, pointing out that Swiatek is on an extraordinary unbeaten run in Paris that stretches back almost four years. Some might even see her as the female equivalent of Rafael Nadal.
'On this court,' Petchey said, 'Iga has 23 straight wins. You don't put those streaks together at a major if your game isn't so difficult to play against. It was clearly going to be the ultimate test for Emma yesterday.
'If anyone has watched Iga's losses over the European clay court season, the players that have beaten her have played absolutely lights-out tennis. Although everyone says Iga's form is bad, I didn't actually think that and she proved it yesterday.'
The good news for Raducanu's many admirers is that she now moves onto the grass, which most experts would identify as her best surface. Petchey had to miss her first-round win in Paris over Wang Xinyu because of his broadcasting commitments, but he will be exclusively focused on her needs during the six-week grass-court swing.
'Since Miami [in late March] when we improvised and I started helping Emma, I said she needs to start closing the gap between the best players,' Petchey explained. 'She doesn't need me to sit between 20 and 50 in the world and if I'm not the best choice, she needs to find the best choice.
'I'm a little tired of hearing people say that she doesn't work hard. I spent 10 months with her in 2020, and I've spent every day that I can with her since Miami, and not once has she not put in a full-day shift. Perhaps there are areas where together, we can help her crystallise more gains in the fitness or the tennis or whatever, but in terms of turning up every day and putting in a good shift, she's done it every single time. So, I'd like to bury that myth where it belongs.'
Also on TNT Sports, the former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki opined that Raducanu's unconventional career trajectory – which included winning the 2021 US Open as an 18-year-old qualifier – has complicated her development.
'The fact that Emma has won a grand slam, the fact that that was kind of her first burst on the scene, is very unusual,' said Wozniacki. 'It's never happened before, being in qualies and winning the tournament.
'So that obviously puts a lot of pressure on her, but at the same time, you've got to just go back and say: 'You know what? This is where I am now. What happened, happened. It's amazing. Nobody can take that away from me. But my level is 20 [in the world], let's say, or 30, whatever it may be, and I need to build from there.'
'Usually you start from the low ranking, and you slowly build your way up, then you go a little down, you make your way up again. But she kind of started at the top and then fell down and now has to work her way back and that can be a little hard.'