Mark Petchey cannot coach Emma Raducanu, so his daughter is instead
These two first met in the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon juniors, seven years ago, when Swiatek dished out a more typical 6-0, 6-1 beatdown. The next time Raducanu saw Swiatek, it was on TV in 2020, while Swiatek was surging to her first French Open.
'I did my A-levels in 2021,' Raducanu recalled. 'In 2020, I remember I didn't play tennis for six months. And I was watching this unfold. I was watching my peers, like some that are around my age, do really well. I felt it was so far away. I felt like I was being held back. But it fuelled a lot of fire and hunger inside of me that when I came back after an 18-month hiatus, from competing in 2021, I ended up having one of the best summers.'
With regard to Swiatek in particular, Raducanu added: 'She's obviously had a lot more experience, a lot more time playing tennis and competing than I have. I haven't really had the same exposure or level of training because of school and everything. So I feel like now I'm trying to catch up and do double time and overtime work. But yeah, it's still a long way to go.'
In their most recent meeting, which came in the third round of January's Australian Open, Swiatek reprised the junior humbling with a 6-1, 6-0 win. Were they to meet on English soil this summer, one suspects that it might be more competitive, especially as Petchey has promised to be available for the whole of the grass-court season without any competing commitments. For the moment, though, this looks a steep hill to climb.
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