Sebastian Sachs is the fifth coach to work with Radukan. Credit: Getty Images/Andy Cheung
Emma Radukanou created one of the most iconic looks in British sports history when she won the 2021 US Open. And yet, after that New York miracle, her career was built on quicksand.
On Thursday, Radukanu announced that she would no longer work with Sebastian Sachs. This brings her number of former coaches to five in less than two years, and returns her to a market with an ever-decreasing reputation as an unstable company.
And it's not just the coaching role that's undergoing changes. Since Radukanu came on tour, she's been managed by IMG's agent Chris Helliar, a 31-year-old former Futures player who also represented her almost the same age as Jack Draper in the early days.
Now it seems like IMG, the super agency , who has secured at least eight sponsorship deals on Radukan's behalf, is reorganizing her team, and former Maria Sharapova agent Max Eisenbud (who is IMG's top tennis coach) will put more focus on her account.
When we look back at those photos of triumphant Radukanu holding the trophy at Arthur Ashe Stadium and then wearing a kimono-style jacket at the Met Gala, it's amazing to think how little he's been through.
The only person from this campaign who still sometimes appears in her environment — this is physiotherapist Will «The Mechanic» Herbert, and even he works in the Lawn Tennis Association, and not in Radukanu itself.
In the case of Sachs, Telegraph Sport understands that the «mutual decision» language used by IMG is not the whole story. Not for the first time in the Raducanu project, a contractual agreement could not be reached.
At 31, Sachs is a young coach with a high rating and an instinctive understanding of analytics (a data-driven discipline that is becoming more and more popular). an increasingly important part of the tactical side of the game). Everything that Radukan said about him was positive and seemed sincere.
While we don't have information on Sax's stakes, it's hard to believe he's going to be very expensive by dressing room standards given his relative inexperience. But how hard did Radukanu and her people try to hold him back? It remains to be seen what deadlines applied to her rest period (in terms of on-court training) over the next few months.
The situation echoes the departure of Dmitry Tursunov, who cited «red flags» when he completed his training period with Radukan at the end of last season.
Dmitry Tursunov stopped cooperation with Radukan due to 'red flags' Photo: Getty Images/Robert Prange
Later, in an interview with the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, Tursunov explained that “I stopped negotiations [on a possible contract extension]. I felt that the negotiations had gone too long. We began to agree on things that seemed so trivial and insignificant to me that it would not work. I didn't feel safe.»
After everything that happened, it would be strange if anyone felt safe in Radukanu's camp. Even in the case of Jez Green, the seasoned fitness trainer whose October hiring promised to be a transformational moment, things weren't quite what they seemed.
Yes, Green gave some useful instructions and advice. It's always worth listening to, and Radukane looked noticeably stronger when she returned from the off-season in January. But Green isn't really her fitness trainer in the usual sense. He works with Raducano on the side, accompanying other clients — first Dominic Thiem and now Sebastian Kordu — on tour.
And again, where is the continuity? Where is the simplicity? Where are the solid investments? It seems that every aspect of Radukan's tennis life is micro-managed and printed in small print in order to find the best value for money. Surely someone should be looking at the big picture instead?
After the US Open, she improved her technique and even changed the tuning of the strings in an attempt to regain the magic that helped her pass that draw without losing a set. She may have felt pressured to back her success with instant results (and this needs recognition because we in the media have contributed so much to that pressure).
But it was also Radukanu and her managers/consultants. who refused to renew her coaching contract with Andrew Richardson, the man who led her to this US Open title. Calm and reassuring, Richardson has remained extremely dignified since the breakup, but in a recent interview, he confirmed that he would like to continue.
In Richardson's absence, the closest thing Radukan had to do Mentor is Tim Henman, who sat courtside on throughout her title run as an Amazon Prime Expert. «Emma needs to find consistency and continuity with her team,» Henman told Telegraph Sport on Thursday. His words were imperturbable, but they guessed the depth of feelings.
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