The coach that guided Emma Raducanu to a stunning triumph at the 2021 US Open has revealed that he wanted to keep working with the youngster after the tournament, but was told in a “brief phone call” that he would not be staying on.
Former British professional Andrew Richardson oversaw Raducanu’s breakthrough maiden grand slam triumph, guiding the then-teenager to a remarkable win in New York.
Richardson had arrived on a short-term contract ahead of the tournament, with his nine-week period as her coach concluding at the close of the US Open.
And while previous reports have suggested that Richardson had turned down the opportunity to stay on in favour of overseeing the development of his own son, the coach has now insisted to the Daily Mail that he was willing to continue in the role.
“The fact of the matter is that a I had a nine-week trial contract that both Emma and I thought was a good idea to see how we would get on, and it ran through to the end of the US Open, stopping immediately afterwards,” Richardson explained.
“There was a period of time after that when I was keen to re-negotiate the contract. I wanted to carry on, and I had a plan that I wanted to put in place for Emma. This thing about ‘I wanted to go off and coach my son’ is not true, but it seems to come up all the time.
“After probably ten days to two weeks (following the Open) I didn’t have a contract. We were in the process of re-negotiating and then I got a brief call from her agent telling me they were going to go in a different direction, and that was the end of it.”
Raducanu has struggled to build from her sensational grand slam triumph, with the young British player significantly hampered by injuries since her Flushing Meadows win.
Consistency of coaching has also proved an issue, with the 20-year-old working with a series of options.
German Sebastian Sachs took over the role of Raducanu’s lead coach in December and was her fifth coach in 18 months.
The former world number ten will miss the entirety of the clay and grass court seasons after undergoing surgery on her ankle and both wrists.
Raducanu was the first qualifier to win a grand slam and the first British women to win a major singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977.
