Emma Raducanu moved quickly to end her spell working with new coach Vlado Platenik. The Slovakian started a short trial period with the former US Open champion, but will not continue on a long-term basis.
Platenik was seen working with Raducanu for the British star’s Indian Wells campaign, which ended with a first round defeat against Moyuka Uchijima of Japan. Raducanu returned to winning ways at the Miami Open, winning in straight sets against Sayaka Ishii in the opening round, but the coach was nowhere to be seen.
The 49-year-old was the seventh coach to work with Raducanu during her career. She has spent time working with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursonov, Sebastian Sachs and Nick Cavaday, while others have been in her corner on a part-time or supporting basis for individual tournaments.
Cavaday, Raducanu’s childhood coach, helped her return to the world’s top 100 in 2024 after a series of injury issues. However, he was forced to step away for health reasons at the end of January.
According to PA Sport, Raducanu determined her partnership with Platenik wasn’t moving in the right direction. No timeframe has been set on her search for a new coach, whether on a part-time or full-time basis.
Raducanu made light work of Japanese youngster Ishii in the first round in Miami. She was forced to pull out of the tournament in 2024 due to a lower back issue, but has made a strong start this time around.
“I’m very pleased to have got through that, it’s not easy to play someone in the first round who’s younger, dangerous and in good form,” the 22-year-old told Sky Sports. “I’m really proud of how I competed today, it hasn’t been easy for me coming into this but I think I put out a really good performance.”
Raducanu’s next opponent will be eighth seed Emma Navarro. The American is coming off a run to the third round at Indian Wells, where she was eliminated by Donna Vekic.
“It’s going to be an extremely challenging match,” Raducanu added. “I think it will be a match where she’s probably in better form, so I think I can go out and try and express myself and compete for every point.
“She’s a great person. I think on the tour she’s someone I warm to and would like to say ‘hello’ to, so it will be a double Emma whenever we play.”
Elsewhere in the women’s draw, British No.1 Katie Boulter suffered a straight sets defeat to the United States’ Peyton Stearns in round one. Billy Harris fell at the first hurdle in the men’s draw against Eliot Spizzirri, while Jacob Fearnley takes on Benjamin Bonzi on Thursday and sixth seed Jack Draper has a bye to the second round.
Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in an unbeatable new deal that saves £192 and includes 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
