Emma Raducanu abruptly concluded her coaching relationship with Vladimir Platenik via a phone call on the eve of her Miami Open match on Wednesday.
However, Platenik, the 49-year-old Slovakian coach, voiced his disappointment that their collaboration didn’t extend until the French Open as initially planned. He contended, highlighting his contributions: “Consider the advancements I brought to her game.”
Platenik, known as Vlado, and Raducanu separated just two weeks into their partnership, subsequent to her first-round defeat at the Indian Wells Open.
He was absent from her player’s box when she secured her first-round victory in Florida. He had been informed of a “pause” in their agreement, despite a recent training session together.
Platenik mentioned in an interview: “Emma communicated her desire to pause our collaboration.
“I appreciate the immense pressure she is under, and understanding her situation, I respect her choice.”
“I regret not having more time with her. Nevertheless, this is the nature of sport. Emma possesses exceptional talent, and I hope she can utilize some of my guidance in the future.
"I extend my best wishes to her.”
Platenik expressed satisfaction with the progress they made on her serve, an area that had been problematic since a back injury during the off-season.
He further commented: “I have never encountered a player who demonstrated such rapid improvement as Emma.
“We engaged in rigorous yet productive eight or nine days of practice. Our training methodology was somewhat different from her previous experiences, leading to significant improvements, particularly in footwork and positioning.
“We also refined her serve by incorporating a higher toss and dedicated considerable effort to her second serve, which also suffered from an inconsistent toss.
“She is now better equipped to utilize the kick-serve more frequently and adopt a more aggressive approach, even on her second serve.
“I am genuinely pleased with her development and her performance in the first-round match.
“If she maintains these improvements we’ve been working on, she has the potential to re-enter the world’s top 20. However, I am always hesitant to impose limitations.”
