Dan Evans cannot believe what Emma Raducanu has failed to do ahead of the French Open, ‘for me it is staggering’

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Emma Raducanu hasn’t gotten off to the strongest of starts on clay this year, winning one of the two matches she’s played on the surface.

The 2021 US Open champion began her clay-court campaign in Madrid, taking on Dutch player Suzan Lamens in her opener.

Raducanu beat Lamens in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, as she advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open for the second time in four years.

Unable to match her 2022 performance, where she reached the third round, Raducanu lost to Marta Kostyuk, 4-6, 6-2, 2-6.

She’s now set to return in Rome for the Italian Open, as her fellow Brit explains what Raducanu has done recently that ‘staggered’ him.

Dan Evans can’t believe Emma Raducanu still hasn’t sorted her coaching team ahead of the French Open

Speaking to 5 Live Sport, former British number one Dan Evans gave his honest opinion on Raducanu’s coaching situation.

“For me, it is staggering how something is not in place,” said Evans.

“It’s all good now when she is using this, not sure the actual words she said, but as development – I’m not sure what that means for the next few weeks.

“But you need a solid group of people there day in and day out.

“Jane [O’Donoghue] knows tennis very well, but she is going back into a normal job soon. When things start to go wrong, you lose a few matches, you need people there all through the day and every session. That’s when the people who are working for you, you really need them.”

Raducanu is currently working with Mark Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue, although the set-up is far from perfect, as reporter Russell Fuller explained recently.

“She would like it to be more of an exclusive arrangement with Mark Petchey, but it just wasn’t possible to agree on a deal, given that Petchey does most of his work in the broadcast media and has a contract with the Tennis Channel,” said Fuller.

“I don’t think he has missed a match yet in Miami, Madrid, and Rome, but I was watching her practice today, and he wasn’t there for that session. Jane O’Donoghue was there instead.

“She is going to be going back to her job in finance shortly. So she needs to find somebody else to complement the work she is doing with Mark Petchey.”

Evans believes the current set-up won’t last and predicts what will happen if Raducanu struggles for form on grass over the summer.

“That just can’t last in my opinion if she starts losing matches and Petch is in the commentary box,” he said.

“That’s not going to work. I think Emma [Raducanu] will be looking for another new coach again soon if she loses a few matches on the grass [going] into the US swing.

“I’m not sure how that can last as it is.”

Dan Evans thinks Emma Raducanu should’ve hired Mark Petchey ‘at all costs’

The Brit went on to explain just how vital a stable coaching team is to a player’s success, as he reflected on the best weeks of Raducanu’s career.

“She is so good when she has people there day in day out. She gets so good, so quickly,” said Evans.

“At the US Open, she was with Andrew Richardson every day for six weeks. A big block of tournaments before.

“She was with Nigel Sears just before Wimbledon, big block of tournaments, when she first came through.”

Evans then suggested what he thinks Raducanu should’ve done to put an end to her ongoing coaching saga.

“I just think maybe she should have gotten Petch at all costs if that’s who she wanted,” he said.

Raducanu won her maiden Grand Slam title in New York four years ago, having worked alongside her coach Richardson for an extended period of time.

She then made the controversial decision to part ways with the man who helped guide her to the US Open title, as the heavily discussed coaching ‘merry-go-round’ began.

It remains to be seen if Petchey will last longer than some of her previous coaches, but if Raducanu continues to perform as she did in Miami, where she reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal, then perhaps she’ll finally settle into a long-term coaching relationship.

Raducanu is scheduled to return to action against Maya Joint in the first round of the Italian Open on Wednesday, May 7.