Emma Raducanu’s new coach believes Brit can now realise her potential after ‘going through hell’ – as he reveals he twice turned down a role in her team

Emma Raducanu’s new coach believes that after ‘going through hell’ the time is right for her to realise her potential.

Vladimir ‘Vlado’ Platenik, who joined Raducanu here in Indian Wells and will work with her on a trial basis through the French Open, has revealed that he was offered the job twice before but both times was committed to another player. The first occasion was soon after Raducanu won the 2021 US Open – a job which Platenik has previously said would have been ‘coaching suicide’.

‘A young player takes off with one great result then has a hard time,’ the 49-year-old told Slovak daily newspaper Dennik N. ‘Her surroundings and the public expect her to repeat those results. Maybe 30 percent of players fall out of the top 100 in a season after their first big result. Names like Hingis, Capriati, Bencic also struggled.