Former Emma Raducanu coach sets the record straight following their abrupt split

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Emma Raducanu’s former coach Andrew Richardson has revealed that he was eager to continue working with the Brit before he was axed following her historic US Open victory back in 2021. Raducanu has struggled to replicate the success of her breakthrough year since her incredible triumph at Flushing Meadows and recently fell outside the world’s top 100 for the first time in nearly two years after withdrawing from the Madrid Open due to injury.

Raducanu has also struggled to find a long-term coach since dismissing Richardson shortly after winning her first Grand Slam title, with the 20-year-old having appointed four others in the last 18 months. Her former and most successful coach has since broken his silence on the manner of his exit from Raducanu’s camp by admitting that he was keen to carry on alongside her before he was sacked during a brief phone call with a member of her team.

“The fact of the matter is that a I had a nine-week trial contract that both Emma and I thought was a good idea to see how we would get on, and it ran through to the end of the US Open, stopping immediately afterwards,” Richardson told the Daily Mail in his first interview since parting ways with Raducanu.

“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.

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“After probably ten 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.”

Richardson has continued to follow Raducanu’s progress following his dismissal but declined to expand further on their time together, with the 49-year-old now focusing on his other commitments which include helping his teenage son Rocco to realise his potential as he aims to carve out a professional career for himself.

“I certainly learned a lot from the whole experience,” he added. “Life has moved on and I’m very busy. There were a lot of family logistics to think about, one son was changing schools and I had to find a tennis situation that worked for Rocco and I needed to find a job.

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“Putting all that together was quite complicated, and there were still Covid restrictions around which made it even more tricky. Any parent with a child who is serious about their tennis will identify with the fact that it can be a complicated business and that a lot of sacrifices have to be made.”

Richardson eventually ended up at the Ferrer Academy, which is eponymously named after its owner David and aims to help young players in their formative years before moving into the professional ranks. He went on to reveal that he has not been short of offers to return to senior coaching but is happy where he is for the moment, although he refused to rule out the possibility of working at WTA or ATP level once again at some point further down the line.

“We have players who are here for the whole year, and some come to access it for shorter periods,” explained Richardson. “We have players from Spain, Mexico, Russia, France, Poland, the UK. There are around 24 here at any one time.

“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.”

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