Emma Raducanu confirms whether Mark Petchey is now her permanent full-time coach ahead of the Madrid Open

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Emma Raducanu is set to return to action at the Madrid Open in her first tournament of the 2025 clay court season.

Raducanu impressed at the Miami Open last month, achieving her best result since the US Open by reaching the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time.

However, the Brit caused confusion with her decision after the tournament, as Raducanu decided to take a break from competition.

This included Raducanu missing Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers, with Sonay Kartal taking her place as the number two on the team.

Now Raducanu is gearing up to return to action at the Madrid Open, and has been spotted with Mark Petchey in the Spanish capital.

Emma Raducanu confirms whether Mark Petchey is now her permanent full-time coach

Raducanu worked with Petchey in Miami, and their partnership appeared to bring positive results after winning four consecutive matches for the first time since the US Open.

This came after a trial period with Vladimir Platenik was unsuccessful, following Nick Cavaday leaving Raducanu’s team back in January.

When speaking to Sky Sports ahead of the Madrid Open, Raducanu revealed that nothing iss formal between herself and Petchey, but they are going to continue their work together.

“We haven’t made anything formal. It’s pretty informal for now but it’s something that is going really well,” said Raducanu. “He is someone I feel like I can trust because I have known him for so long and before the US Open when I won it.

“For now it’s working really well and it’s nice to be with someone I feel familiar and comfortable with. I also think less is more for me sometimes because I work really intense and really hard and I can definitely be partial to overkilling it sometimes.”

Emma Raducanu’s Previous Results on Clay

Despite being a Grand Slam champion, Raducanu is still pretty unfamiliar on clay and cut her season on the surface short last year.

This concluded with a poor performance from Raducanu in Madrid, where she lost in the first round to Maria Lourdes Carle.

However, it has not all been bad for Raducanu on clay, having reached the last-16 in Madrid back in 2022.

Raducanu has also shown some positive signs on the indoor clay of Stuttgart, and played a vital role in Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup Qualifier against France last year.

After missing Roland Garros in both 2023 and 2024 due to varying reasons, Raducanu has only made one appearance at the Parisian major where she reached the second round.

Raducanu will make her competitive return to the clay courts at the Madrid Open on Wednesday April 23, when she will play Suzan Lamens in the first round.