Aryna Sabalenka is through to the third round of Indian Wells after a straightforward win over Himeno Sakatsume.
And, fresh from announcing her engagement earlier in the week, she was still full of excitement when speaking to the media afterwards.
The Belarusian touched on various topics during her press conference, from her tennis to her personal life. But she didn’t expect the conversation to turn toward Emma Raducanu.
Sabalenka was asked for her thoughts on Raducanu’s coaching situation and took the opportunity to share an extended opinion on the matter.
Sabalenka shares her thoughts on Raducanu’s coaching path
When asked if she could ever see herself going without a coach the way Raducanu plans to, Sabalenka didn’t hesitate.
She joked: “Yeah, I’m ready to fire all of them right now. (Laughter).
“No, I think for me personally it would be tough. I think even though I’m mentally tough and strong, for me it’s important to feel the support and to see my team in the box and just have my people around.
“So for me, I mean, right now I don’t see myself being without the coach. And even though I’m, like, smart and I know tennis, I kind of like know everything but at the same time…
“I don’t like to go in the practice and do the whole practice myself. It just takes too much energy. “I just need the coach to schedule practice, make me do stuff so that only thing I’m worried about is my tennis. Not which exercise should do today or what should work on.
“For me it would be difficult but feel she has been struggling a lot with finding the right fit for her. I think maybe taking this little break is good as rushing into bringing just anyone could lead more problems.”
Emma Raducanu makes a strong start at Indian Wells
Mark Petchey is helping Raducanu this week, but she’s still yet to fill that spot with a long-term appointment.
The 22-year-old has been comfortable without one since parting ways with Francisco Roig and hasn’t appeared in any rush to make a new hire.
She seems confident in her own approach and clear about how she wants to play, showing no real need for external direction at the moment.
It’s not the typical path, and it will likely come under criticism from some corners of the game.
But based on how sharp Raducanu looked against Anastasia Zakharova – winning in straight sets and playing on the front foot throughout – it’s hard to argue with her results so far.
Read more:
