Emma Raducanu defends rehired coach Andrew Richardson

Emma Raducanu said this week that bringing Andrew Richardson back into her team was not an admission that she made the wrong call by splitting with him after her 2021 U.S. Open title. The 23-year-old Briton told BBC Sport at Roland-Garros that the decision reflected what she had learned over the past several years about trust and personal connection. (sports.yahoo.com) Richardson, now 52, coached Raducanu during her New York breakthrough and has returned almost five years later during a season Raducanu said had been disrupted by the lingering effects of a viral illness. Her comments came on the eve of the French Open main draw, which begins on Sunday, May 24. ### Why did Raducanu say the original split was not simply a mistake? Raducanu said the period after her U.S. Open win changed her life abruptly and left her struggling to manage competing demands. Asked whether not continuing with Richardson had been a mistake, she told BBC Sport: “Everything in my life changed upside down.” She added that she was “being pulled left and right” and did not feel she had a handle on the situation. The British player said those years still shaped the decision she has made now. Raducanu said the experiences taught her “what I didn't want” and showed her that she values having “people I trust and connect with around me.” (sports.yahoo.com) ### Why did Richardson come back now? Raducanu said timing and familiarity were central to the reunion. She told BBC Sport that she and Richardson had stayed on good terms and that “it was one of those moments when the timing was right.” She said she initiated the renewed contact by sending him a text. (sports.yahoo.com) Richardson has been the tennis director at the Ferrer Tennis Academy in Spain for several years, and the pair first linked up again in April for a four-day training block there. Raducanu later confirmed they had reunited on a full-time basis and said they would work together for the rest of the 2026 season. (sports.yahoo.com) ### What did Raducanu say Richardson gives her now? Raducanu said Richardson helps steady her. “He doesn't care about the noise and is really good at centring me,” she told BBC Sport. She also said: “It's really nice to have that feeling back.” (sports.yahoo.com) The comments fit a broader theme in her explanation of the reunion. Raducanu repeatedly framed the move around trust and connection rather than around revisiting the decision she made in late 2021. ### How has her 2026 season shaped this decision? Raducanu arrived in Paris after limited match play over roughly the past three months because of what she described as lingering effects from a viral illness. (sports.yahoo.com) BBC Sport reported that she recently competed in Strasbourg, where her first match back under Richardson ended in a straight-sets loss to France's Diane Parry. She said she considered skipping the clay-court major and moving straight onto grass. Instead, Raducanu said she chose to play because the physical work on clay would help “for next year's clay-court season,” while also giving her competitive matches rather than “starting at ground zero.” (sports.yahoo.com) ### What comes next in Paris? Roland-Garros main-draw singles begin on Sunday, May 24, according to the tournament schedule. BBC Sport said Raducanu is due to open her French Open campaign against Argentina's Solana Sierra. (sports.yahoo.com) Raducanu has played the French Open main draw twice and reached the second round on both occasions, BBC Sport reported. Her first matches in Paris will now be the first test of the renewed partnership with Richardson over what she said will be the rest of the 2026 season. (rolandgarros.com) (sports.yahoo.com)