Emma Raducanu's new coach gets praised lavishly after partnership commences to promising start

British number one and 2021 US Open winner Emma Raducanu has brought in yet another coach; this time she has called for the help of Francisco Roig, who was the alternate coach for 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal.

The Brit has chopped and changed coaches throughout her short career, meticulously picking out the perfect coach for her. She had formerly been coached by Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov, Sebastian Sachs, Nick Cavaday, Vladimir Platenik, and Mark Petchey. The Spaniard is now the ninth permanent coach since she broke on the scene at Wimbledon back in 2021, reaching the fourth round of her maiden Grand Slam.

Roig will take charge until the end of the year, with the highly anticipated US Open rapidly coming up. Raducanu will be hoping to continue her positive spell of bright performances, which has seen her rise back up the rankings to 35th in the world.

People around Roig sing his praises

With the news of these two working together, many of Roig's compatriots have come to the side of the Spaniard, praising his coaching skills. Former Spanish number two Feliciano Lopez is one of those who described him as 'the best coach I've worked with'. In an interview with BBC Sport, Lopez said: "Francis is the best coach I worked with by far. He's patient but also demanding. He will push you until whatever he thinks needs fixing is fixed."

With the level of the sport reaching new heights, players must concentrate and be prepared every time they go onto the court. Toni Nadal, Rafael Nadal's uncle and ex-coach, provided an insight on what Roig's centre of attention in training is, with a cornerstone on technical gains.

"Francis is a very good coach and a man who can help Raducanu to improve technically - he puts a lot of attention on this," Toni Nadal told BBC Sport. "In today's game every player hits the ball very fast. But in the end tennis is about power and control - when you hit the ball fast without a good technique it is difficult to put five or six balls inside the court in a row. This is what Francis explains to players. I think he can help Raducanu to become a very good tennis player again."

Jordi Vilaro, close friend of Roig, proclaims his passion for the sport, whilst also applauding his keen eyesight and attention to detail. "His eyes are special, he can see things other coaches can't see in a 1000th of a second - they maybe need video or slow motion. Every player who trains with him for an hour plays better tennis. Win or lose is another thing, but they hit the ball better and cleaner. Francis is very passionate for tennis. What's amazing is he can watch a match on TV and he doesn't care about the result - he's checking how they are moving, the positioning and how they are hitting the ball. He's watching many specific things. When we created the academy he said, 'I want to do it but I don't want any paperwork. I just want to be on the court'. The court is his passion."

"Positive start for Roig and Raducanu relationship

The pair joined forces after Wimbledon, and the performances since then have been favourable. Two third-round appearances in the recent Masters 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati followed a deep run at Washington, bailing out in the semi-finals against Anna Kalinskaya.

Vilaro distributed Roig's fondness for Raducanu's workrate and devotion to tennis, already leading to a harmonious partnership between the two. "I spoke to Francis after Raducanu beat Danilovic and before she played Sabalenka," said Vilaro. "He said, 'It's amazing, I like working with this player a lot because she loves to be on court. We spent two hours training the return, the return plus second shot and what to do when the opponent attacks'. He enjoyed it a lot. The most important thing for him is having a player who loves being on court - and it looks like this is the case."

The US Open beckons for the Brit, after her disappointment in the revamped mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz, losing out in the first round to Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula. Her focus is now solely on the singles, and an opportunity to push on up the rankings.