Emma Raducanu has reunited with US Open-winning coach Andrew Richardson.
The partnership begins immediately, with Richardson joining Raducanu in Strasbourg, where she will make her return next week after two months out through illness.
Raducanu was strongly criticised for splitting from Richardson shortly after her stunning win in New York in 2021.
At the time, the now 23-year-old said she felt she needed someone with WTA Tour experience, but, nearly five years and a host of short-term appointments later, Raducanu has again turned to Richardson.
“Grateful to have reconnected with someone who has known me for over a decade now and looking forward to building together one iteration at a time,” said the British No 1.
It continues a pattern of Raducanu favouring coaches who she worked with prior to her rapid ascent to superstardom and who she feels she can trust.
Richardson preceded and now follows in the footsteps of Nick Cavaday and Mark Petchey, while she has frequently turned to another former coach, Jane O’Donoghue, for support and advice.
Raducanu set tongues wagging when she spent a week practising with Richardson at the Ferrer Tennis Academy in Spain last month.
She played down talk of a permanent reunion at the time having said previously she was not actively looking for a replacement for her most recent coach, Francisco Roig, from whom she split following the Australian Open.
Raducanu has played only four tournaments since then, reaching her first final since the US Open in Romania in early February but picking up a virus that affected her in the Middle East and Indian Wells before she decided to step away from the tour.
Raducanu pulled out of events in Miami, Linz, Madrid and Rome but has taken a wild card into Strasbourg to give her time on the clay prior to the French Open, which begins on 24 May.
The 23-year-old is set to slip to 37th in the rankings next week, meaning she will not be seeded at Roland Garros.
PA
