By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday May 15, 2023
Whatever happened to Andrew Richardson, the former ATP player and – more famously – coach of Emma Raducanu, who helped guide the British star to her US Open title in 2021 and was then let go?
Mike Dickson of the Daily Mail has spoken with Richardson, who now works as the Director of Tennis at the David Ferrer Tennis Academy in La Nucia, Spain.
In the interview Richardson, who was coaching Raducanu on a trial at the time she won the US Open, says he had hopes of continuing with the talented teen, but was told he wouldn’t be needed shortly after Raducanu’s crowning achievement.
“After probably ten days to two weeks (following the Open) I didn’t have a contract,” the former World No. 133 said. “We were in the process of re-negotiating and then I got a brief call from her agent telling me they were going to go in a different direction, and that was the end of it.”
Richardson, whose son also trains at the Ferrer Academy, says he was keen to re-negotiate the contract but never got that opportunity.
“There was a period of time after that when I was keen to re-negotiate the contract. I wanted to carry on, and I had a plan that I wanted to put in place for Emma,” he told Dickson. “This thing about ‘I wanted to go off and coach my son’ is not true, but it seems to come up all the time.”
Raducanu, whose team is guided by her father, has always been one to look forward, not back, and was committed to finding coaches who would continue to help her game blossom.
"There was a lot of change in her game, there's no doubt that she's had a lot of coaches that have had input, especially in the last two to three years,” former ATP pro and current commentator Nick Lester told Tennis Majors in 2021. “Her father, I know, was very keen on having different voices. He was someone who felt like he wanted to really drill down in terms of understanding how she can improve each aspect of her game, and he wasn't afraid to, and she wasn't afraid either to make changes and have different people with different looks.”
Richardson, meanwhile, is still open to returning to coaching on tour, even if he is happy with his post in Spain.
“Since what happened with Emma I’ve had offers to go back on the tour, both WTA and ATP. The timing wasn’t right, but going back on the tour is definitely something I want to do in the future.” “I have a situation here where my son has the best chance of pursuing his tennis, he is thriving and enjoying it, and also we are at the start of a project here which is exciting for me jobwise.”
Raducanu, meanwhile, recently dropped outside of the Top 100 and has undergone three minor surgeries, one to each wrist and another on her ankle.
Since her breakout run to the US Open from qualifying, she has gone 4-5 at the Grand Slam level and not been beyond the second round in any of her five appearances in Grand Slam main draws.