Emma Raducanu has dispensed with the services of Torben Beltz, the German coach she hired only five months ago, as she seeks to “transition to a new training model” that could be spearheaded by the respected Italian Riccardo Piatti.
Raducanu, who has now gone through three coaches in less than a year, will initially be supported by staff from the Lawn Tennis Association – starting with Iain Bates, the British governing body’s head of women’s coaching, who will accompany the 19-year-old at this week’s Madrid Open.
However, it is understood that Raducanu’s management team have held talks with Piatti, who has previously worked with the likes of Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic, about the possibility of the 63-year-old heading up a team of coaching experts to oversee the next stage of her development.
Raducanu trained at Piatti’s academy in Liguria before the Billie Jean King Cup earlier this month, although at the time she said it was simply a stopgap measure to get some practice on clay and “see how other places operate”. Piatti, who parted ways with Jannik Sinner earlier this year after guiding his countryman to six titles and a place in the world’s top 10, could be in Raducanu’s corner before the French Open, which begins at the end of next month.
The latest change of direction follows an encouraging run to the quarter-finals of last week’s Stuttgart Open, Raducanu’s first clay-court event as a professional, where she emerged with credit from a combative defeat against world No 1 Iga Swiatek.
Raducanu has nonetheless won just five of her 12 matches under Beltz and, while she spoke warmly of their “strong chemistry”, her short history in the game shows she is not afraid to shake things up. Beltz becomes the latest addition to a casualty list that includes Nigel Sears, who was jettisoned following the Briton’s breakthrough run to the last 16 at Wimbledon last summer, and Andrew Richardson, with whom Raducanu parted ways after her improbable victory at the US Open.
“I want to thank Torben for his coaching, professionalism and dedication over the last half a year,” said the 11th-ranked Raducanu. “He has a huge heart and I have enjoyed our strong chemistry during the time together. I feel the best direction for my development is to transition to a new training model with the LTA supporting in the interim.”
Raducanu’s partnership with Beltz, who guided Angelique Kerber to the Australian and US Open titles, began inauspiciously when Raducanu contracted Covid ahead of a planned pre-season training block, and has been frequently disrupted by injury. She had nonetheless spoken positively of their work together. “I’m learning so many new things,” she enthused last month in Miami, praising the 45-year-old’s “happy, positive energy”.
Yet Raducanu is nothing if not a quick study, and her preference for absorbing information from one mentor before moving on to another – an approach underpinned by a belief that while each coach has different skillsets, none can cover all the bases – is already well established. An arrangement that allows her to work with multiple coaches would make perfect sense.