Emma Raducanu accused of ‘dipping in and out of tennis’ by Andy Murray’s old coach

Emma Raducanu has been urged to stop “dipping in and out of tennis” after a stop-start comeback year. The Brit returned in January ranked outside the top 300 after having three surgeries and has since climbed to No. 59. But Raducanu has also missed large portions of the season due to setbacks and schedule management. And Andy Murray’s ex-coach wants to see her commit to playing more tennis so she can continue climbing.

Raducanu has faced criticism for some of her scheduling decisions this year. She skipped French Open qualifying to focus on the grass season which paid off – she enjoyed deep runs in Nottingham, Eastbourne and Wimbledon. The 22-year-old then missed the Olympics on clay in favour of the North American hard-court swing. But she didn’t play qualifying events in Canada or Cincinnati and it later emerged that she had been dealing with an injury.

After a first-round US Open exit, a tearful Raducanu admitted she should’ve competed more. However, things didn’t go to plan when she got injured at the Korea Open and had to miss the rest of the Asian swing. There have still been promising signs as she climbed up the rankings despite playing fewer tournaments. But Mark Petchey now says Raducanu must stop skipping portions of the season and commit to playing a full schedule.

“The harder you work, the easier it becomes when you play tennis matches,” Murray’s ex-coach told Betway. “When you know you’ve put in the work the matches become ‘easier’ because your practice sessions should be arguably harder than the matches themselves.