Emma Raducanu’s former coach Andrew Richardson reveals reasons for split after US Open win in 2021

Andrew Richardson, the coach that guided Emma Raducanu to her US Open win, has revealed how he was told in a “brief call” that his work with the British No. 1 would not be continuing.

When the two parted ways shortly after the tournament, it was initially reported that Richardson had left on his accord as he was more interested in coaching his son in tennis.

But he has now confirmed that he wanted to remain with Raducanu after she became the first-ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam.

“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 10 days to two weeks [following the US 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.”

“I certainly learned a lot from the whole experience,” Richardson continued.

“Life has moved on and I’m very busy. Since what happened with Emma I’ve had offers to go back on the tour, both WTA and ATP. The timing wasn’t right, but going back on the tour is definitely something I want to do in the future.

“I have a situation here where my son has the best chance of pursuing his tennis, he is thriving and enjoying it, and also we are at the start of a project here which is exciting for me job-wise.”

Since Richardson, Raducanu has had several coaches, but she has yet to regain the form she had back when she was 18 years old at the US Open.

She is now at No. 103 in the WTA rankings, and will continue to go down as she is out of action for the next few months due to undergoing surgery on both her wrists and her ankle.

“I tried my best to manage the pain and play through it for most of this year and end of last year by reducing practice load dramatically, missing weeks of training as well as cutting last season short to try [to] heal it. Unfortunately, it’s not enough.

“I’m having a minor procedure done on both hands to resolve the issues. I’m disappointed to share that I will be out for the next few months and while I am at it will have another minor procedure that is due on my ankle.

“It pains me that I will miss the summer events and I tried to downplay the issues so I thank all my fans who continued to support me when you did not know the facts.

“Looking forward to seeing you all back out there.”

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