Emma Raducanu hopes to rediscover ‘natural’ style that has been ‘coached out of me’
Emma Raducanu says she is determined to wrest back control of her “natural” tennis style, with the British No 1 eager not to be bound by the diktats of a single coach.“I want to come back to my natural way of playing.That takes time to relearn because that’s something that has been coached out of me a little bit,” Raducanu told BBC Sport.“I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn’t necessarily fit.I don’t necessarily want to have one coach in the role because anyone I bring in is straight away going to be scrutinised – even if it’s a trial.
“I might feel the pressure to stick with them, even if it’s not necessarily the right decision.I would love to have a coach that works well, but I don’t think it’s necessarily going to be easy to find one person and they are going to check every box.”Raducanu is back in action this week at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where a good run could lift her from her world ranking of 24th.It has been another turbulent start to a season for the 23-year-old, who went into the Australian Open underprepared because of a foot injury, parted ways with another coach in Francisco Roig, reached her first final since the US Open in Romania and then struggled with illness.The split with Roig followed a second-round Australian Open defeat by Anastasia Potapova that saw Raducanu voice her unhappiness with the way she was playing under the Spaniard.
She will be helped again in California by Mark Petchey, who served as an ad hoc coach for several months during the spring and summer last season, while her hitting partner, Alexis Canter, is providing day-to-day support.Yet the former US Open champion is not ruling out hiring another full-time coach.“I definitely have my mind open to it,” she said.“It’s just that I would rather someone not come in and tell me ‘let’s do this’, and I disagree with it but have to listen to them.So far Alexis has been really good, but I am definitely going to tap into a few people here and there.
”While much of the focus is again on Raducanu’s coaching, her compatriot and former world No 4 Tim Henman believes work in the gym and on the practice court should be the priority.“It’s still too stop-start,” he said.“She has to become physically more resilient to be stronger and faster to then compete with the biggest hitters and the best players.“I understand the way she wants to play.She’s an attacking baseline player.
If I could add one element to her game, it would only be on the physical side – to get stronger, faster, to hit the ball harder.“You look at the physicality of a [Aryna] Sabalenka, a [Iga] Swiatek, a Coco Gauff, a [Elena] Rybakina, Emma’s not at that level.And to a certain extent, with her physique, she might not ever be at that level but she’s got to close the gap.She’s [24] in the world but I think there’s a lot of us that believe she can be a lot better.”
Slower UK interest rate cuts likely as some mortgage providers hike rates; oil and gas prices rising again – as it happened
The travel disruption, the higher oil price and the fall in the euro caused by the Iran war has prompted low-cost airline Wizz Air to issue a profits warning.Wizz Air warned investors last night that it believes the current crisis in the Middle East will wipe €50m off its profits this financial years.Wizz had previously predicted that earnings would fall within a profit of €25m to a loss of €25m, so today’s warning means it expects a loss for the year.The company told the City:double quotation markIn terms of the expected impact, approximately one third is a result of the cessation of certain scheduled services to the Middle East, with the remainder from the adverse movement in macroeconomic factors as a result of the Iran conflict.Our assessment of the impact of these macroeconomic factors is based on jet fuel and US$/€ rates as of today, and assumes that these rates will remain at current levels for rest of Fiscal Year 2026
Emma Walmsley’s pay rose almost 50% to £15.6m in final year as GSK boss
GSK awarded Emma Walmsley a near-50% pay rise to £15.6m in her final year as chief executive of Britain’s second-biggest drugmaker.Walmsley, who led the FTSE 100 company from 2017 and handed over to Luke Miels at the start of this year, was paid a salary of £1.4m in 2025, slightly higher than the previous year, while her annual bonus rose to £3.5m, up from £2
Retailers want ‘delightfully human’ AI to do your shopping, but will the chatbots go rogue?
Major retailers say it won’t be long before sophisticated AI “assistants” plan your meals, organise your parties and do your shopping.But companies, many that are already struggling with their more primitive AI chatbots, will have to balance making the newer, “agentic” bots relatable without them going rogue.AI chatbots were in the news recently when Woolworths reined in its virtual shopping assistant, Olive, after the company’s attempt to have the robot relate to customers on a human level backfired.Customers reported feeling annoyed rather than soothed when Olive told them about its “relatives” over the phone.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailAs one complained on Reddit: “I’m already pissed that I have to call and now I’ve got some robot babbling to me on the phone? Wtf Woolies?”While Woolworths has said it will dial down Olive’s quirky personality, the incident – and further testing by Guardian Australia of a range of retailers’ chatbots – shows the technology still has teething problems
Google Pixel 10a review: cheaper Android is great, but no real advance
The latest smartphone in the lower-cost A-series Pixel line shows what makes Google phones so good, while undercutting the competition on price. The problem is that it differs little from its predecessor, which is still on sale.The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more
India v England: men’s T20 World Cup semi-final – live
Castled by the googly! But still, 25 was Buttler’s best innings for ages.5th over: England 45-2 (Buttler 25, Bethell 7) That was inspired captaincy from Surykumar Yadav, who kept Bumrah up his sleeve until Brook was there (not that it took long). Brook wasn’t expecting the slower ball, whereas the Indian batters seemed to see England’s pace-off varieties coming a mile off.Jacob Bethell, who is not easily fazed, gets off the mark with a six, whipped to fine leg. But then Bumrah bamboozles him outside off and he’s lucky to get away with a loopy edge
Wales can find a way to fly against Ireland if they manage to dump their baggage
It’s unlikely Steve Tandy got to this point in his coaching career without ever alluding to the joy of playing with no baggage. Between club and country over the years he must have reminded his players that the lads down the corridor would be bearing the load, so that’s one thing less to worry about. And with that realisation comes a certain lightness. We’re not talking about the freedom of skipping around the park, picking out faces in the crowd and drinking in the atmosphere of a Six Nations tie, rather getting some value from being spared the burden of expectation.For Wales this has come at a price
South East Water fined £22.5m for ‘repeated supply failures’ in Kent and Sussex
Australian petrol retailers accused of price gouging over rising fuel costs amid Iran war
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Rachel Reeves should scrap the North Sea windfall tax now
How will war in the Middle East affect your finances?