Emma Raducanu: US Open champion should hire ‘very best’ Riccardo Piatti as her next coach, says Barry Cowan | Tennis News

Raz Mirza

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Barry Cowan says Emma Raducanu should hire the highly-rated Italian coach, saying: “If he is on the market, my advice would be to tap into Riccardo Piatti”; the British No 1 recently trained on the clay courts at Piatti’s academy as she prepares for the WTA Madrid Open

“He is one of the very best coaches in the sport.” Tennis commentator Barry Cowan believes world-renowned Riccardo Piatti could be the person to coach Emma Raducanu next.

The 19-year-old split from coach Torben Beltz after less than six months working together on Tuesday, but it has proved another short-lived relationship, with the Brit now looking for her fourth coach in less than a year.

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Cowan has defended Raducanu’s decision to split with Beltz after only five months with the German

Having burst into public consciousness with her run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last summer under Nigel Sears, Raducanu then turned to a familiar face from her junior days, Andrew Richardson, for the US Open.

But, despite her incredible success, she decided not to continue the partnership, instead saying she wanted someone with experience of the WTA Tour.

Beltz certainly ticked that box having guided Angelique Kerber to two Grand Slam titles, but Raducanu is now once again searching for someone to guide her through her maiden steps on the tour.

Piatti, 63, appears to be the frontrunner for the role having previously worked with Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova.

“If he is on the market, my advice would be to tap into Riccardo Piatti”

Barry Cowan on Riccardo Piatti

Raducanu recently travelled to Bordighera in northern Italy to train on the clay courts at Piatti’s academy and with the British star now seeking a ‘new training model’, Piatti could be the coach to take her forward with the French Open starting on May 22.

“In my opinion, he is one of the very best coaches in the sport,” Cowan told Sky Sports.

“I’ve been saying that consistently. He is the one if you can get, I would go and get him, because not only is his tennis knowledge incredible, he has the experience of being able to develop players and the job he did with Jannik Sinner was nothing short of remarkable.

“What he is, is a great guy. He is someone who will invest massively into any player that he works with and he can see the long-term vision but also know that you’ve got to be winning matches now.

“If he is on the market, my advice would be to tap into Riccardo Piatti.”

Did Raducanu make the right call splitting with US Open winning coach, Richardson?

The combination of Raducanu and Andrew Richardson ‘worked’ at the US Open in New York

Cowan admits he was left amazed when Raducanu split from US Open-winning coach Richardson, saying: “I was very surprised. I know Andrew, or ‘Flex’ as we call him. I’ve played doubles with him and we went through the junior years where actually we lived at a tennis boarding school for years.

“He was a great fit for Emma and I think anyone can see the way that he handled the situation in New York over three weeks which were very intense and coming through seven matches of the main draw and three matches of qualifying. He is an unbelievable ball striker as well.

“Not only was he able to help her in terms of her tennis, but he was able to provide something in being a great ball striker. That was a surprise it didn’t go further other than being a six-week trial period. It worked.

“You don’t get lucky as a player and a coach when you can see how it works over a three-week period. You can get lucky to win a match, but you don’t get lucky to qualify and win a major.”

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The Times’ tennis correspondent, Stuart Fraser, says it will be important for Raducanu to have sorted out a new coach by the start of the grass-court season

“I would be surprised if Emma goes back so soon to Richardson or Nigel Sears,” added Cowan.

“I would expect the set-up to be what it is currently, which is Louis Cayer, James Ward and her father, Ian.”

Madrid next for Raducanu

Raducanu continues her clay-court baptism in Madrid this week having been drawn to face Czech world No 49 Tereza Martincova in the opening round – the same player she beat on her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Great Britain earlier this month.

She has been joined in the Spanish capital by Iain Bates, who is head of women’s tennis at the LTA and has been a presence in Raducanu’s development at the National Tennis Centre, with Cayer acting as technical coach.

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