Tim Henman and Emma Raducanu’s dad played role in coach getting sacked

Emma Raducanu’s agent has responded to critics of the Brit’s coaching decisions. The 20-year-old has hired and fired five mentors in under two years and has most heavily been questioned for axing Andrew Richardson right after winning the US Open. But Max Eisenbud revealed that Raducanu’s dad Ian and Tim Henman also played pivotal roles in her title triumph, showing that she could make things work without Richardson.

Raducanu has often been criticised for going through her coaches in quick succession. The former world No 10 made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon as an 18-year-old wildcard with Nigel Sears in her corner and stormed into the second week but parted ways with him and reunited with her old LTA youth coach Richardson.

She went on to make tennis history just a few weeks after their link-up, becoming the only qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam title at the US Open. And it meant that the tennis world was left stunned when Raducanu axed her coach within two weeks of her unprecedented triumph.

Since then, she has also worked with Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and most recently Sebastian Sachs. But it’s her split with Richardson that has always caused the most controversy – and Raducanu’s agent has set the record straight, explaining how her youth coach wasn’t the sole influence behind her US Open win.

Speaking to The Tennis Podcast, IMG super-agent Eisenbud said: “Andrew Richardson is a great guy and a very good coach and he was definitely part of that success, but so was Tim Henman, who was really helping her a lot.

“And quite frankly, her dad was the one putting in a lot of the game plans for the matches.” With Henman and Ian Raducanu playing such a big part in her success at the US Open, it may have been easier for the 20-year-old to cut ties with Richardson knowing that her triumph hadn’t been down to him alone and that she could move forward without him.

After splitting with her youth coach, Raducanu sought out someone with more experience on the WTA Tour as she skyrocketed into the world’s top 25 and was suddenly eligible to play every event in the tennis calendar. For that, she turned to Beltz, who she worked with for five months.

With Henman and her own father proving successful in the past, the 20-year-old could turn to them for some advice when she eventually returns to competition. But it seems she won’t be giving up her habit of chopping and changing coaches as Eisenbud said: “Perspective, it doesn’t look great for people who want it to be wrapped up in a perfect bow.

“I understand that and I see that, but for the family that’s the way they have done it. People need to get over the fact that that’s what they need to do. It’s probably going to be like that for the rest of her career.”