As the clay courts of Europe beckon, Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, is fine-tuning her game for the 2025 French Open and Italian Open under the watchful eye of Mark Petchey, her latest coaching collaborator. The 22-year-old British star, currently ranked world No. 49, has embraced an unconventional, “informal” coaching arrangement with Petchey, a former mentor to Andy Murray and a respected tennis broadcaster. This partnership, which sparked to life at the Miami Open in March 2025, has already yielded promising results, including a refined serve and a renewed approach to the challenging clay surface. With the Italian Open looming and Roland Garros on the horizon, Raducanu’s preparationsinto promising signs of progress as she navigates the clay-court season.
Raducanu’s journey to the 2025 clay season began with a notable shift in her coaching setup. After parting ways with Nick Cavaday in January and a brief trial with Slovakian coach Vladimir Platenik, Raducanu turned to Petchey, a familiar face she’s known since her junior days. Their collaboration, described as “pretty informal for now,” has brought a sense of trust and stability. “He’s someone I’ve known for a long time, and I do feel like I can trust him,” Raducanu shared, emphasizing the comfort of working with Petchey and her long-time confidante Jane O’Donoghue. This relaxed dynamic proved effective in Miami, where Raducanu reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final, defeating top players like Emma Navarro and Amanda Anisimova. “We created our own little bubble, and it was nice to be working on my game out there but at the same time having fun and enjoying it,” she said, highlighting the balance of focus and levity Petchey fosters.
A key improvement under Petchey’s guidance has been Raducanu’s serve, a shot that plagued her earlier in the season. Observers have noted a return to her “natural, flowing rhythmic service motion,” moving away from an abbreviated version developed with Cavaday. “She’s gone back to her more natural service motion since working with Mark Petchey recently,” remarked former doubles player Mark Fleming, noting its longer, rhythmic flow. This tweak paid dividends at the Madrid Open, where Raducanu saved three break points in a crucial game during her first-round victory over Suzan Lamens, a 7-6, 6-4 battle that marked her first clay win of 2025. Her enhanced serve and varied tactics, including more slice backhands and drop shots, bolstered her tiebreak prowess, winning 14 of her last 16 shootouts.
Clay, however, remains a work in progress for Raducanu, who admits, “I don’t necessarily feel very comfortable” on the surface. Her second-round loss to Marta Kostyuk in Madrid (6-4, 2-6, 6-2) exposed challenges with movement and balance, particularly slipping and struggling to exit corners post-serve. “I found moving really difficult,” she confessed, adding, “I’m not really sure how to improve that, so I guess I’ll just take that back and try to work on it in the next week.” Despite the defeat, Raducanu remained upbeat, viewing her two matches as “positive” for gaining outdoor clay experience. “It is my second proper clay season and the first one in three years,” she noted, underscoring her commitment to accumulating court time.
Petchey’s influence extends beyond technical adjustments. His “thought-provoking” conversations and off-court challenges keep Raducanu mentally engaged. “He’s helped me in a lot of areas of my game and also off the court, finding things to stimulate me mentally and constantly challenging me – which I like,” she said. Their 10-day training block in Los Angeles, filled with hiking, yoga, and art gallery visits, refreshed her after a grueling early-season schedule. “I had a long start to the year with many weeks in a row, and I think my body and brain needed to have a little recharge,” Raducanu explained, a decision that prioritized long-term health over immediate competition like the Billie Jean King Cup.
Looking ahead, Raducanu is set to compete in the Italian Open, a WTA 1000 event in Rome, before the French Open in late May. Her Madrid performance, though mixed, offers optimism. “If she can keep working, keep finding her feet in the clay, her movement, her balance, and just comfort on this surface, I think she can still have some great results,” Fleming predicted, suggesting clay’s slower conditions could hone her tactical acumen. Former world No. 9 Coco Vandeweghe echoed this, calling Petchey’s addition “a net positive” for Raducanu’s Grand Slam preparations, citing their comfortable rapport.
Raducanu’s “less is more” philosophy, as she told Sky Sports, reflects her evolving approach: intense, focused practice balanced with deliberate downtime. “I work really intense and really hard and can definitely be partial to overkilling it sometimes,” she admitted. With Petchey’s guidance, she’s learning to maximize court time and switch off afterward, a strategy that could prove vital on clay’s demanding terrain. As she prepares for Rome and Paris, Raducanu’s blend of technical refinement, mental resilience, and a trusted coaching setup positions her to make strides, even on her least familiar surface.