By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, May 9, 2025
Photo credit: Internazionali BNL d’Italia
Emma Raducanu pushes buttons when watching tennis on TV.
These days, Raducanu is a receptive audience for commentator-coach Mark Petchey.
World No. 49 Raducanu swept Swiss lucky loser Jil Teichmann 6-2, 6-2 today to reach the Rome third round.
Next up for Raducanu is Veronika Kudermetova with the winner of that match potentially facing WTA Finals champion Coco Gauff in the round of 16.
Tennis Channel commentator and former ATP pro Petchey is not listed as Raducanu’s official coach, but he has been in her box as an informal coach since Miami and did a training block with her before this clay campaign began.
Working with Petchey and Jane O’Donoghue, a resurgent Raducanu has posted a 7-2 record in her last three events, returned to the Top 50 for the first time in three years.
Importantly, Raducan is more relaxed, looks like she’s having fun again and is competing with clarity.
In their first tournament together at the Miami Open in March, Raducanu knocked off three talented Americans in succession—Emma Navarro, McCartney Kessler and Amanda Anisimova—then pushed US Open finalist Jessica Pegula to three sets before bowing in the Miami quarterfinals.
Conceding she sometimes presses the mute button on tennis television analysts, Raducanu said she’s listened—and learned—from Petchey, who was Andy Murray’s former coach.
“I’m not biased but I love hearing him commentate. I think he’s a great commentator,” Raducanu told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “I think he’s someone that I actually want to listen to. Sometimes I watch tennis and I have to mute it, whereas with him, I love hearing what he has to say.”
Raducanu, who made history as the first player—male or female—to play through qualifying and win a Grand Slam singles title at the 2021 US Open, credited her training block with Petchey in Los Angeles with her recent run of success.
“He’s very interesting,” Raducanu said. “He’s obviously helped me a lot with everything—with the tennis, with the off-court. We did some really good work as well in L.A. while he was with Tennis Channel, and I’m really happy with how everything is going.”
Red clay has been Raducanu’s least favorite surface, so supporter say wait until she gets on the grass and watch how well Petchey’s tutoring on point construction and applying her all-court skills will work on lawn.
Though Raducanu is tuning into the message now, what happens to the messenger if/when Raducanu hits a rough patch on the road back to the Top 25?
Daniel Evans says you don’t even need 20/20 vision or a Top 20 ranking to see how this all ends.
Former world No. 21 Evans says a split in the Raducanu-Petchey partnership is not only inevitable it may be imminent.
In fact, Evans bluntly says “it can’t last” long if Raducanu’s results go south.
“It can’t last if she starts losing matches and Petchey is in the commentary box, that’s not going to work,” Evans told BBC Radio 5 Live in comments published by British media. “I think Emma will be looking for a new coach again pretty soon if she starts to lose some matches on the grass into the US swing.
“I’m not sure how that can last as it is.”
Implicit in Evans’ comments are the fact the 22-year-old Raducanu axes coaches almost as routinely as Agatha Christie killed off characters, the life of any WTA Tour coach can grow tenuous quickly and that Petchey, even if not directly commentating on Raducanu matches, has the platform to both sharpen her strengths as a coach and expose her weaknesses as a commentator.
In tennis, does the coach-commentator and star player partnership pairings produce clearer vision or mixed signals?
The Raducanu-Petchey partnership is hardly the first time an elite player has partnered with a former player turned analyst. Nor is it the first time a broadcaster has delivered TV analysis of a player they’ve spent time coaching.
Hall of Famer Boris Becker has done television commentary on his former charge, Novak Djokovic’s matches. Becker is a mentor to world No. 2 Alexander Zverev and has offered commentary on the former Olympic gold-medal champion’s matches, too.
Olympic gold-medal champion and top TC analyst Lindsay Davenport has been lead analyst for several Madison Keys matches. Davenport previously coached Keys, who trained for years at the Chris Evert Academy in Florida. Hall of Famer Chrissie Evert, a mentor to Keys, long predicted she would eventually break through and win a Grand Slam title during her commentary on Keys matches.
Patrick Mouratoglou was an ESPN expert analyst while coaching Serena Williams. Williams lost to Naomi Osaka in a controversial 2018 US Open final that saw the former No. 1 rage at chair umpire Carlos Ramos over a coaching violation call precipitated by her coach sending hand signals though she was on the opposite end of the court.
In fact, during ESPN’s coverage of that final, Mouratoglou owned up to attempting to coach Serena in a live interview with colleague Pam Shriver in which he pointed out Uncle Toni Nadal gave signals nearly every single match. Hall of Famer Shriver coached Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic, but was on the Croatian’s box, not on the ESPN booth, during her run to the SW19 Final Four last year.
ESPN analyst and former Olympic gold-medal champion Mary Joe Fernandez has provided commentary on many players she coached when she was U.S. Fed Cup captain. The same is true for ESPN analyst and former U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe, who coached Andy Roddick in his US Open farewell.
The relationships between coach/commentators and star players dates back to tennis boon in the 1970s.
Hall of Famer and lead CBS analyst Tony Trabert coached several American stars, including John McEnroe and Arthur Ashe in his role as Davis Cup captain and worked their matches alongside Pat Summerall. Hall of Famer and former player Donald Dell represented some of the stars he commentated on, including Jimmy Connors, as manager.
So how will the Raducanu-Petchey plot line develop as she heads for greener pastures—and greater scrutiny—playing on home British lawns next month?
Like all engrossing drama, we’re all going to have to tune into find out.
