Coaches can’t keep up with my questions – Raducanu

Former British number one Emma Raducanu says her “provoking” and “challenging” questions could explain why she has had a high turnover of coaches.

“I ask my coaches a lot of questions,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

“On certain occasions they haven’t been able to keep up with the questions I’ve asked and maybe that’s why it ended.”

The 20-year-old added: “It’s something I’ve always done. I keep provoking and asking questions to coaches and challenging their thinking as well. I’m not someone that you can just tell me what do and I’ll do it, I need to understand why and then I’ll do it.”

Raducanu started her career with Nigel Sears, who left shortly after she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in July 2021, before Andrew Richardson guided her to her famous victory at Flushing Meadows a couple of months later.

Torben Beltz was appointed in November 2021 but left in April 2022. He was replaced by Dimitri Tursunov, who warned of “red flags” and potential problems if Raducanu continued to listen to too many voices.

The Brit has struggled to hit the levels she found when winning the US Open as an 18-year-old and has not played since losing 6-2 6-1 against Jelena Ostapenko in Stuttgart in April.

After undergoing surgery on both wrists and an ankle in May, Raducanu is hoping to get back into competitive action by the time the new season starts.

Her sights are set on climbing back up the rankings, but she also has an ambition to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, although Paris 2024 might come too soon.

“Obviously, the Olympics is such a big thing in sport,” said Raducanu.

“I think I could play another four if I really wanted to, so this one isn’t the immediate rush or pressure, it’s just about getting back on court.

“I love the Slams but I do want to have the Olympic experience. I’ll just see how it goes, if I even qualify and how it goes from there.”