"He asked me, 'So have you found a coach?'"- Emma Raducanu recalls humorous interaction with King Charles
Emma Raducanu's frequent changes to her coaching set-up have been much debated in the tennis world and have even drawn the attention of King Charles.
Raducanu secured her breakthrough on the tour when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2021, under Nigel Sears' tutelage. However, their partnership ended soon after and the 20-year-old began working with Andrew Richardson who guided her to the 2021 US Open title.
Following that, Raducanu joined forces with Torben Beltz in November 2021, but they ended their partnership just five months later. Prior to the 2022 US Open, the 20-year-old began working with Dmitry Tursunov, with their partnership coming to an end in October 2022.
Raducanu announced Sebastian Sachs as her coach in December 2022. On June 1, she disclosed that she was parting ways with Sachs, marking her fifth coaching split in two years.
In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Times, Emma Raducanu recalled her experience of receiving the MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire - from King Charles. The 20-year-old received the honor on November 29, 2022, for her services to the sport of tennis after her historic triumph at the 2021 US Open.
"I didn't want to sit in the dress while driving so I went in my tracksuit, and when we got to Windsor I went into the changing room in Zara and walked out in a Dior gown at 9 am," Emma Raducanu said.
The Brit also revealed her humorous interaction with King Charles in which the monarch question her about whether she had found a new coach since splitting with Dmitry Tursunov in October 2022.
"He asked me, 'So have you found a coach?' I was like, 'That's good banter!' It was so funny, I was laughing because everyone was ripping me for not having a coach. I was like, 'The fact you know this, I feel honoured,'" she said.
“A lot of the time it wasn’t even me” - Emma Raducanu on the frequent changes to her coaching team
During the interview, Emma Raducanu was asked about the frequent changes to her coaching team potentially being detrimental to her career. However, the Brit claimed that not all of the splits were initiated by her.
“A lot of the time it wasn’t even me," she said.
Raducanu has been on the sidelines since April after having undergone three surgeries on her wrists and ankle. She missed out on competing in the 2023 French Open and is set to miss Wimbledon as well.
The 20-year-old last competed on the tour at the Stuttgart Open, where she lost her tournament opener to Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets.
Emma Raducanu holds a 5-5 win/loss record for the season so far.