Dan Evans makes brutal sack prediction over Emma Raducanu’s new tennis coach
'That's not going to work.'
British tennis star Dan Evans believes Emma Raducanu’s unusual coaching arrangement with Mark Petchey could be doomed to fail soon.
Raducanu hired Petchey, 54, on a casual basis in March and says she’s happy to ‘keep things informal’ with her part-time coach for the time being.
She is still keen to eventually make Petchey her permanent, full-time coach but he is unable to do so because of his significant broadcasting roles.
Petchey works as a tennis commentator and analyst for Amazon Prime, ITV, the BBC, the Tennis Channel, Tennis Australia and others outlets.
Raducanu, 22, feels the current arrangement is working well, having played some of her best tennis of the year in Miami with a quarter-final run.
Evans, though, has told the BBC: ‘It can’t last if she starts losing matches and Petchey is in the commentary box. That’s not going to work.
‘I think Emma will be looking for a new coach again pretty soon if she starts to lose some matches on the grass into the US swing. I’m not sure how that can last as it is.’
Jane O’Donoghue has been stepping in when Petchey is unavailable but she is only doing so on a sabbatical from her full-time job in finance.
Raducanu has accepted she’ll need to ‘figure another solution out’ and her current plan is to find a replacement for O’Donoghue to support Petchey.
‘It’s been working pretty well,’ Raducanu said about her current coaching set-up at the Italian Open this week.
‘Mark is doing his commentary work and around that he is going to help me as much as he can and hopefully the times align that he can be there with me in the matches.
‘That’s why Jane is here for when he’s not able to make it to the session.
‘While she’s not working it’s nice to have her as much as possible, but she will go back to work and then I need to figure another solution out.’
Raducanu’s coaching arrangements have been a hot topic ever since her historic major triumph at the US Open in 2021.
Before teaming up with Petchey – her full-time coach was Nick Cavaday – but he was forced to step down in January due to personal health reasons.
She has also previously worked with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Iain Bates, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs and Vladimir Platenik.
There are many British fans dreaming of a future partnership between Raducanu and Andy Murray following the latter’s retirement, with the Scot currently working in Novak Djokovic’s coaching team.
Raducanu and Murray’s relationship became somewhat strained after Wimbledon last year but the pair have since made up.
