Emma Raducanu has been told to focus all of her efforts on three key goals as she continues her work with new coach, Francisco Roig. The British No. 1 hired Rafael Nadal’s old mentor after her partnership with Mark Petchey came to an end, as he had broadcast commitments.
Raducanu enjoyed a strong North American hard-court summer with some good runs and standout matches, but it came to a disappointing end when she was thrashed by Elena Rybakina at the US Open.
The world No. 34 has gone back to the drawing board with Roig, enjoying a brief training block in Barcelona before she heads to Seoul for next week’s WTA 500 event, where she has received a wildcard.
Raducanu is keen to keep packing her schedule and earning all-important ranking points, and Petchey agrees that her ranking should be one of her biggest priorities over the coming months.
If Raducanu can get inside the world’s top 32, she will be seeded at the Grand Slam tournaments, meaning she won’t face either seeds until at least the third round.
Speaking to tennis betting site BetVictor, Petchey said: “If I was Emma, I’d have like three targets. Number one would be to get inside the top 32.
“I don’t think that you need to be anything more than that. I think it needs to be inside 32 to be seeded for the Australian Open at the back end of the Asian swing. That would be the goal.
“So, whether that’s 25 or comfortably inside, don’t have to stress, know you’re going to be seeded.
“A seeding around 25 will be better than 28 to 32 because otherwise you have the potential to play those top four seeds in the third round. Ideally, 27 and lower would be like the number one goal from the whole of the Asian swing.”
Petchey – who coached Raducanu for a brief stint in 2020 before helping her out this year – would also like to see the former US Open champion wants her to do more with her game style, especially after she suffered a bruising 6-1 6-2 defeat to Rybakina in Flushing Meadows.
“Number two goal is obviously to feel that your game can be more impactful, more often,” he added.
“She’s obviously been taking care of the players that she knows she can beat and some of the players that were ranked ahead of her. But obviously she will look to be more impactful.
“And number three, to keep working on that serve; to keep making sure she’s getting the maximum out of it.
“Everyone wants to talk about the fact that it can be better but there will be a limit on it just because of how tall she is. All she can do is keep working on it and make it the best that it can become subject to the natural restrictions of physics and geometry.”
Raducanu already seems to be heeding her old coach’s advice. She’s made it no secret that she wants to be seeded for the Australian Open in January and has been serving well throughout her last few tournaments. She’ll now try to put it all together during the upcoming Asian swing.
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Content Source: www.express.co.uk