What Emma Raducanu’s coach was saying after Iga Swiatek’s recent withdrawals from two tournaments
Emma Raducanu’s coach hopes for a positive change to tennis following the new coaching rule in 2025.
Next season the International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that coaches can give guidance to their players either verbally or via hand signals during matches from the start of 2025.
The organisation said the new measure has been put in place to make tennis “fairer and, potentially, more entertaining.”
The reaction among those in the tennis world has been a divided one, but Emma Raducanu’s coach Nick Cavaday thinks the change can be good for the game.
What was Emma Raducanu’s coach’s reaction to Iga Swiatek’s recent withdrawals?
World number two Iga Swiatek was overtaken in the rankings by Aryna Sabalenka during the two months she was away from the tour.
In that time the 23-year-old missed WTA 1000 events in Beijing and Wuhan, one of the reasons being that Swiatek did not have a coach after parting ways with Tomasz Wiktorowski.
This was discussed on the ‘Tennish’ podcast with Sky Sports presenter Gigi Salmon and commentator Naomi Cavaday, and the latter admitted she did not agree with why Swiatek chose to miss those tournaments.
But after speaking to her brother Nick Cavaday who coaches Raducanu, she saw things differently, as he understands why Swiatek did not want to play in those tournaments without a coach.
“I didn’t really understand why Iga didn’t play in Beijing and Wuhan, because she didn’t have a coach, and I was saying ‘you’re a player, go out and play’,” she said.
“But I’ve since spoken to my brother Nick Caveday, who is Emma Raudcanu’s coach, and I spoke to him about it and I was ‘just go and play, if you lose, you lose, whatever’. But he said he disagrees.
“Now that courtside coaching is part of matches, you can’t expect Iga to go there without a coach and playing against Sabalenka who does have her team and coach, the advantage is just so much.
“The expectation of coaches now is that they will help you get through tight matches, that’s what they are there for. He’s really hoping that it will drive up the quality of coaching overall because there is going to be more expectation on them at the side of the court.
“I thought that was a valid point that I hadn’t considered so I would like to extract my criticism of Iga for not playing Beijing and Wuhan.”
What have players said about the new 2025 coaching rule?
Reacting to the new ruling, Stuart Miller, ITF senior executive director for integrity and legal, said: “We’ve gathered feedback from all key stakeholders including players, coaches and chair umpires.
“Players felt it was a positive development and makes tournaments more interesting for them.”
Players have since reacted to the chance, with Taylor Fritz slamming the decision. “Can we stop ruining the 1v1 mental/strategic aspect of the sport PLEASE.”
On the other hand, World number one Jannik Sinner saw things from a different point of view. “Yeah, I hadn’t read perfectly what this coaching is about. The coaching, they stay from the players’ box or they can come on court?,” he said.
“Yeah, I don’t think it will change like incredibly much. Even now there are just some coaches who still give some advice at some times.”
