Emma Raducanu has been urged to watch how she played in 2021 and try to “recreate it” by her former coach Mark Petchey.
Petchey, a tennis commentator and former British No 1, is not concerned by Raducanu’s athleticism or mental strength as he suggested her focus should be on technique.
Raducanu defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova and Amanda Anisimova to reach the third round of the 2025 Australian Open, where she was crushed by Iga Swiatek.
The world No 56 was then beaten in a gruelling three-set match by Cristina Bucsa in the opening round of the Singapore Open last week.
The 22-year-old will face Marketa Vondrousova in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open on Tuesday after receiving a main draw wildcard.
Raducanu has not reached a final since winning her only title to date at the 2021 US Open. The Brit stunned the tennis world with her run in New York as a 150th-ranked qualifier.
Petchey, who coached Raducanu in 2020, argued the Brit should focus on rediscovering her groundstrokes from her US Open-winning season as he reflected on her Australian Open campaign.
“I’m not ever concerned about her athleticism. I know she’s a great athlete,” the former world No 80 told JeffBet.
“I’m actually still in the camp that she’s incredibly mentally tough. I know there’s a lot of people out there that would say, ‘What have you been looking at for the last three years?’ I totally disagree.
“If I was Emma, I would go back and watch 2021 and I would try and recreate it personally with the forehand and backhand.
“I haven’t seen any gains from a technical point during the rallies and I’m sure she may disagree, but I haven’t really seen it.
“Once she got on the court against Iga, it was a case that Iga played well and she didn’t play well, but I hope she’s not telling herself the reason that she didn’t play well is purely down to a bad day at the office. There’s some stuff there that I think needs to get worked out.
“You can’t neglect the other stuff, of course that’s important, but if you look at some of the bigger improvements that we’ve had, Madison Keys didn’t suddenly get stronger, her racquet made her feel like she was playing better.”
