When it comes to knowing a thing or two about winning Grand Slam singles titles, John McEnroe is as well-versed as they come, with the American having won seven during his decorated career.
One of the latest names to the star-studded list of Grand Slam winners is teenage British superstar Emma Raducanu, who came through qualifying to secure one of the most incredible triumphs in recent memory to win the 2021 US Open.
However, subsequent performances on the WTA Tour for Raducanu haven’t been quite as successful, and she has had plenty of big names offer their opinion on how she should be going about her fledgling career.
Her performance at the Australian Open was also underwhelming, as she followed up a solid opening-round win over fellow former US Open champion Sloane Stephens with a shock defeat to Montenegrin Danka Kovinić in round two.
Raducanu has everybody talking
The decision to oust childhood coach Andrew Richardson from her coaching team fresh off the back of her US Open win was perhaps the biggest surprise from Raducanu, who has now turned to German Torben Beltz’s expertise.
While there is no questioning the credentials of Beltz, who was inspirational in Angelique Kerber’s Wimbledon and Australian Open wins in 2016, many in the game were surprised that Raducanu had chosen to change her coach in the wake of the biggest triumph of her career.
In discussing Raducanu’s decision, McEnroe said that it will take a while to see how she will handle the pressure, which will be overwhelming at times.
Saying that he was not sure why Raducanu decided to hire a new coach, McEnroe added:
“You would think if a coach took her to the US Open Championship that you wouldn’t say that I need a new coach.”