Sacked Emma Raducanu coach speaks out after lasting 14 days and just ONE match in role

Emma Raducanu’s sacked coach Vladimir Platenik insisted he had no hard feelings despite lasting only 14 days and one match in his role with the Brit.

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.’

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.

Speaking out the day after his split from Raducanu was confirmed, Platenik said the 22-year-old was feeling ‘stressed’ and ‘under pressure’ before ending their relationship.

‘I totally understand Emma, she’s not in an easy position. The world is looking at her after the US Open [which she won in 2021] and everybody is expecting – including herself – what she is going to do next,” Platenik told BBC Sport.

‘So for me it’s absolutely understandable that she’s under a lot of pressure. She told me she was feeling stressed.

‘There are no hard feelings from my side. She finished the relationship in a fair way, maybe too quickly, but this is tennis, this is sport. We need to respect that.’

The 49-year-old, however, said he was proud of what he had achieved in his short space of time with Raducanu having encountered many ‘problems’ in their first few sessions.

‘She was not really able to stay in the rallies, there were a lot of problems to play on the move with the different speed, different spin and different angle,’ the Slovak added.

‘We had a good discussion, the communication was good from her side. I was very happy because I really must say that I never had a player improving that fast – in eight, nine days.

“She was getting a lot of things very fast. And I think it also showed in the first round [victory over Ishii in Miami].’

Raducanu, meanwhile, did not address the split following her first-round win in Miami, but said her build-up to the 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.’

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