Emma Raducanu: Questions about me and dating just ‘terrible’
Emma Raducanu has revealed she gave up therapy after two sessions, hit back at criticism over her revolving door of coaches and voiced her frustration at the level of interest in her personal life.
Raducanu has endured a tumultuous career following her shock US Open triumph in 2021, including three surgeries, dealing with stalkers and questions over her relationship status.
The British No 1 is gearing up for another crack at glory at Flushing Meadows and has scored a coaching coup by making an agreement with Francis Roig, a former top-60 player who was part of Rafael Nadal’s coaching team for 17 years.
The full roll-call of coaches from her professional career now features at least eight names, and includes Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs. There was also a brief interlude in Indian Wells this year where Vladimir Platenik sat in her player box while she lost a first-round match against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.
“People love to say I’ve had so many different coaches but if I went into the details of a lot of them, people would not be saying the same thing,” Raducanu told The Guardian.
“When you see things like, ‘Oh, Emma on her ninth coach’, I’m like, ‘Guys, come on’. Certain ones don’t count. If you’ve had a trial, you don’t have to carry on after the trial. A few have been trials, a few have been other situations. I just try and take the high road – and try to do what the royal family would do.”
Raducanu was stalked across four countries for at least three weeks in a “calculating” and “terrifying” campaign of harassment, one of her former coaches claimed earlier this year.
A man arrested in Dubai had followed her to every tournament since the Australian Open, according to Roman Kelecic, who is based in the city.
Raducanu said she had ‘tried’ therapy after being recommended to do it, but she gave up after two sessions and stopped after claiming the people helping could not relate to her.
The 22-year-old and Carlos Alcaraz are among the wildcard entries for the mixed doubles championship at the US Open which will take place before the main tournament on Aug 19 and 20, with $ 1m (£750,000) in prize money at stake for the winners.
She said questions over her dating status were “terrible” at Wimbledon, when a reporter asked whether she was with Cam Norrie.
“I think they’re more curious about this news than any tennis results and tennis news,” she added. “But I just keep to myself, my private life to one side.”
