Emma Raducanu has rehired Andrew Richardson on a formal basis before returning to competition in Strasbourg next week, bringing back the coach who helped her win the 2021 US Open as an 18-year-old. Richardson will accompany Raducanu at the WTA 500 event, her first tournament in two months.
Raducanu had travelled to Richardson’s base at the Ferrer Academy in La Nucía, Spain, for a clay-court training block that also doubled as a trial for a possible full-time partnership. She said she was grateful to have reconnected with someone who has known her for more than a decade and that she was looking forward to building together “one iteration at a time.”
The reunion carries weight because Raducanu has spent much of the years since her US Open breakthrough searching for coaching stability. She was working with Nigel Sears at the start of that summer before teaming up with Richardson in July 2021, then ended the partnership less than two weeks after lifting the trophy in New York as a qualifier without dropping a set. Since then, she has moved through several other set-ups, including a six-month spell with Francisco Roig before they split in February.
Her latest return to training also reflects the practical limits she has faced in recent months. Raducanu has been dealing with a post-viral illness, which kept her away from competition, and she travelled to Indian Wells in March with LTA coach Alexis Canter as she tried to rebuild her schedule. Nick Cavaday was her longest coaching stint, lasting more than a year before he stepped away for personal health matters, while her rise back into the top 30 last year came with Mark Petchey, though that relationship could only operate on an ad-hoc basis because of his broadcast work.
For Raducanu, the move back to Richardson is both a return to familiar ground and a fresh attempt at consistency. The next test comes in Strasbourg, where she will try to turn a short clay-court block and a revived coaching relationship into momentum before the main stretch of the season resumes.
