Mark Petchey has expressed his belief that Emma Raducanu will be “a multiple Grand Slam champion” and described the Brit as “one of the best athletes on the tour right now.”
The tennis commentator would like to see “a little bit more consistency” in Raducanu’s coaching team, but feels people have “a very wrong perception” of what the 21-year-old is like “as a person and as a competitor.”
Shortly after reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon on her major debut in 2021, Raducanu stunned the sporting world when she won the US Open on her maiden appearance at Flushing Meadows.
Raducanu, who was just 18 at the time, became the only player in tennis history to lift a Grand Slam trophy as a qualifier – remarkably winning 10 matches without dropping a set across qualifying and the main draw.
The 21-year-old has not made it past the second round in the six majors she has played since her 2021 US Open triumph, which remains her only WTA title.
The former world No 10 returned from an eight-month absence in Auckland last month after undergoing surgeries on both her wrists and her ankle last year.
Raducanu holds a 3-4 record in 2024, having reached the second round at her first three events in Auckland, the Australian Open and in Abu Dhabi, before an opening round exit in Doha Monday. She lost 6-0, 7-6(6) to world No 30 Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the WTA 1000 tournament in Qatar.
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Petchey, who coached Raducanu during her formative years, argued Raducanu’s movement on court is underrated and explained why he feels she will add to her Grand Slam tally.
“She is moving well. She’s probably one of the best athletes out there on the tour right now. She moves phenomenally well, I don’t think we talk about it enough. If the game is there, then the athleticism backs up,” the former world No 80 told i.
“I personally would like to see a little bit more consistency in her team. But the one thing I will say about Emma is the 10 months that I spent with her, there was not a day, there was not a minute that she didn’t put in. Every single time she hit a tennis ball, and it was 100 per cent commitment to it.
“I think there are people out there that have a very wrong perception of what she is like as a person and as a competitor out there. She is going to give everything to this sport. And ultimately I believe she will be a multiple Grand Slam champion.”
Following her loss to Kalinina in Doha, Raducanu suggested she could adopt a different approach to scheduling as she looks to build up her workload.
“I think that I need to kind of schedule my tournaments a bit better as well as just trying to get some more matches under my belt,” the world No 262 said.
“I think that I’m just going to go home and practice and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
