Emma Raducanu’s coaching carousel spins once more, leaving a trail of questions in its wake. Following Nick Cavaday’s departure after the 2025 Australian Open, citing health concerns, Vladimir Platenik was brought in as an interim coach, initially expected to remain until at least the French Open. However, Platenik’s two-week trial, reportedly initiated following her early exit at the BNP Paribas Open, has concluded with surprising speed. But what really led to this sudden split? Well, Raducanu’s spokesperson has offered some reasoning.

“Emma and Vlado have parted ways. Emma has utmost respect for Vlado and the work they started but it wasn’t quite heading in the right direction. Emma is now focused on doing as well as she can here in Miami after her solid start today and will continue looking for the right coach,” said the spokesperson.

Despite Raducanu’s resurgence in Indian Wells and a winning start in Miami, Platenik’s absence from her player’s box during that victory hinted at an impending change. It is interesting to note that while Platenik was missing from the court-side in her recent match against Sayaka Ishii, her long-time confidante and coach Jane O’Donoghue was spotted sitting alongside LTA women’s tennis national coach, Colin Beecher, and her full-time fitness trainer Yukata Nakamura.

Earlier this month, Vladimir Platenik’s candid remarks to Slovakian media revealed he had twice declined opportunities to coach Emma Raducanu, citing the position as “coaching suicide.” “Emma also approached me in a similar situation right after a great success (winning he 2021 US Open), which is why I said it could be coaching suicide,” Platenik told Slovak newspaper Dennik N.

Bringing stability to her coaching team has been a major challenge for Raducanu over the years. Other than the persons named above, she has also worked with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson (who led her to the US Open title triumph in 2021), Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, and Sebastian Sachs. After seeing all these sudden changes over the years, fans may wonder: What does an “ideal coach” mean to her, though?

Well, to this Raducanu once said, “I would say work ethic and a genuine passion and enthusiasm for what they do. I’m the kind of person who does have very long training days but it does not feel like work to me. I’d say someone who doesn’t necessarily view what they do as work, someone who genuinely has that drive and hunger to achieve the best and win big titles.” 

Many times, Raducanu has been criticized for her coaching changes. For example, Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, once said, “That’s not the ideal situation. If she was my daughter, I wouldn’t advise to do that, because you need stability to build something, whatever it is.” Even Ann Jones once stated, “To fire a coach after she had just won the US Open was the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” 

Even renowned broadcaster Marcus Buckland said that Emma Raducanu’s coaching issues will continue to haunt her unless she finds a stable team leader to take her game to the next level. Meanwhile, Chris Evert’s husband, John Llyod, also opened up on the same topic last year. He raised his concerns for the Brit citing her rapid changes in her coaching team and labeled it as “not a good sign” for such a talented player like her. What was Emma Raducanu’s reply to all these criticisms?

Emma Raducanu shares her own thoughts on her constant coaching changes

In December 2024, Emma Raducnau finally opened up about her real thought process behind her frequent coaching changes. In reply to the critics, she said, “It’s never really been my interest or philosophy to chop and change coaches. I’ve never really wanted that. I’m a very loyal person, whether that’s with my tennis or off the court. Or with what I eat. When I find something I like, I stick to it. I eat the same thing every single day.” However, she claimed that, unfortunately for her, nothing has clicked so far. 

Irrespective of who comes in and who goes out, it’s now prime time for Emma Raducanu to capitalize on her winning in Miami. Emma Raducanu’s path to the second round of the Miami Open began with a favorable matchup against Sayaka Ishii, a former top-ranked junior still navigating the challenging transition to the professional tour.

Ishii demonstrated flashes of her potential, notably her powerful forehand, which produced impressive winners and allowed her to briefly level the score at 2-2. However, her aggressive style proved unreliable, resulting in a surge of unforced errors. Raducanu, in contrast, delivered a composed and professional performance, effectively highlighting the significant disparity in experience and current skill between the two players. She defeated Ishii by 6-2,6-1, setting up a second-round clash against the number 10, Emma Navarro.

Speaking about the battle of two ‘Emmas‘, Raducanu said, “It’s going to be an extremely challenging match. I think it will be a match where she’s probably in better form, so I think I can go out and try and express myself and compete for every point.“ This will be their first meeting on the Tour. Can Raducanu keep her winning run intact in Miami without a coach? Share your thoughts in the comment section.