EMMA RADUCANU has split from another tennis coach – ending her partnership with Francis Roig.
After losing in the second round of the Australian Open, the Brit has decided to part ways with the Spaniard, who was instrumental to Rafa Nadal’s success.
Her team say it was a mutual decision and that “their highly-respected relationship” ended on “good terms”.
And that was evidenced in a heartfelt farewell message posted to Raducanu’s Instagram.
She wrote: “Francis, thank you for our time together. You have been more than a coach to me and I will cherish the many good times we spent together on and off the court.
“While we have come to the conclusion together that we ought not to move forward, please know that I am very grateful for all you have taught me and fond of our time shared.”
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It is a surprise in one sense given that Roig, 57, had helped to rebuild her game after Wimbledon and during her time at the US Open and into the autumn series in the Far East.
But then again Raducanu does have a habit of hiring-and-firing coaches, especially when things get rocky.
Roig is the eighth permanent coach to come and go as Raducanu looks for inspiration on the tennis court, more than five years since her epic US Open victory.
Though she does not have a replacement, she will be joined by Alexis Canter when she appears next week at the Transylvania Open in Cluj, Romania.
Red flags about the situation were raised when she picked apart the tactics that she had recently used on the court following her exit from Melbourne.
Journalists who were present Down Under felt it came across as a dig at her Spanish coach, who previously spent 18 years working with the 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal.
Raducanu said: “I want to be playing a different way.
“The misalignment with how I’m playing right now and how I want to be playing is something I want to work on.”
She later said on BBC Radio: “I didn’t play how I wanted to play because I wasn’t hitting any shot particularly well.
“It’s tough to take an assessment when you’re completely off.
“Me and Francis have done some amazing work together in the past few months, and I’ve improved so many different aspects of my game. It’s difficult to say we don’t agree.”
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