Tim Henman wasn’t “overly surprised” to see a familiar face in Emma Raducanu’s camp at the Miami Open. Tennis pundit and coach Mark Petchey, who previously worked with Raducanu in 2021, has been supporting the world No. 60 over the past week.
Earlier in her career, Raducanu formed a reputation for chopping and changing her coaches. And Henman has now had his say on her approach to finding new mentors as he prepares to take on a new coaching role of his own.
Raducanu is through to her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in Miami, where she is effectively working without a coach after parting ways with trial coach Vladimir Platenik after just 14 days. However, the 22-year-old isn’t completely alone in the sunshine state.
She was initially set to be joined by her fitness trainer, Yutaka Nakamura, and “big sister” figure Jane O’Donoghue. But Raducanu caught attention when she was spotted on the practice court with Petchey, who coached her briefly before her breakout summer in 2021.
Petchey currently works for Tennis Channel and has been supporting the British No. 2 throughout her campaign in Miami. Their ad-hoc partnership this fortnight took many by surprise.
However, retired British player Henman believes it makes sense for Raducanu to seek help from a familiar face. “Was I surprised? Yes and no,” the former world No. 4 said.
“I mean, Petch is at a lot of these tournaments working from a media point of view and he’s obviously worked with Emma in the past. So it kind of makes sense if she wants a little bit of input.
“I’m intrigued to understand a little bit more about the partnership and if it’s something that is going to last a bit longer. But Petch knows Emma’s game. Petch knows the game inside out, so I wouldn’t say I was sort of overly surprised.”
Henman has also been impressed by her efforts in Miami. “She didn’t play particularly well in Indian Wells, but she stuck at it, and now in Miami, with the hard work she’s invested, she’s playing very, very well and, again, she’s got a good opportunity,” he added.
“Touch wood she doesn’t have any of the the little injuries that can keep her out of tournament play, and she can continue to build on this because there’s no doubt in my mind, she’s a great player, she should be back knocking on the door of top 30 seeded at Slams, top 20, if she stays healthy.”
A lot has also been made of Raducanu’s brutal attitude to coaches after she ended her trial with Platenik after a few days, but Henman trusts the 22-year-old to follow her own approach.
“It’s very much horses for courses and I think Emma has been very vocal that she’s very comfortable switching coaches and that’s her prerogative,” he said.
“I started playing professional tennis kind of at the end of 1992 and to 2007, that’s 15, 16 years. I had three coaches. So I like the consistency and continuity of working with a coach for for a period of time. But that means it’s right for me, that doesn’t mean it’s right for Emma.
“And she’s got a fitness trainer on board now, and I think that that is such an important part of giving herself the foundation to build on Tour.”
Raducanu has informally sought advice from many trusted figures over the years, and Henman is another big name in British tennis who is happy to offer guidance when needed.
He continued: “Look, when she won US Open, she was obviously working with Andrew Richardson and he was best man at my wedding and so I spoke to them during that fortnight and I’ve always kept in touch and spoken to Emma at different times.
“But no different to when Andy [Murray] was playing, I spoke to Andy and I speak to Jack [Draper], I speak to Evo [Dan Evans].
“I see them all and as I said, whenever they ask for advice, I’m always there for them. I sort of feel that’s kind of an unofficial role for British tennis, because I’ve been lucky enough to have support from the British game and I’ll always be there for the British players, both male and female.”
Henman will now hope his expertise can help a whole group of top players when he steps into the role of vice captain for Team Europe at the Laver Cup this September. Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz are already signed up for the team event.
“I’ve been at two of the last three Laver Cups working from a media point of view. I was in London when Federer was retiring and I was completely blown away by the event, the delivery, both teams, the matches,” he explained.
“So then I worked at the next one in Vancouver. To then be given this opportunity to be on the court with the players, as I said, absolutely delighted to be a part of Team Europe.”