French Open: Tennis legend John McEnroe criticizes Emma Raducanu’s decision

Raducanu became the first qualifier in history to win a Major, ending Britain’s 44-year wait for a women’s singles Grand Slam champion at the US Open last year.

Since her fairytale run in New York, Raducanu has suffered second-round defeats at back-to-back Grand Slams, with the 19-year-old struggling to repeat the exploits that saw her triumph at Flushing Meadows.

The British number one parted ways with Andrew Richardson after their US Open win and then did without Torben Beltz ahead of the clay court season.

American tennis legend McEnroe, who won seven Grand Slams, says the coaches’ “revolving door” has hampered Raducanu’s development.

The 63-year-old told Eurosport: “Honestly if I won the US Open after qualifying I wouldn’t change my coach at least for next year so I don’t understand this move.

“Obviously her parents are involved and they know more than I do. But I just don’t think that idea of ​​a revolving door of coaches is good for a player, let alone a player at this stage in her career.

“We’ll have to wait and hopefully she finds someone to stay with for a while. She’s changed coaches, three, four, five times, which is incredible for someone who just won a major.

“We have to keep a little perspective here,” he added. “Last year at Wimbledon she couldn’t finish a match because of stress and it got to be too much.

“Then she came out and did something that no one has ever done – man or woman – in 150 years of tennis, coming out of qualifiers and winning.

“Suddenly she has this pressure, this expectation, which has also become a bit overwhelming.

“I think movement is an issue for her, obviously experience, she’s very young. She has put herself in a difficult position because a lot is expected of her and we are not sure if she is comfortable with the people around her yet. Hopefully she’ll find that in the next year or two.’

However, she was keen to take the positive results of her clay court campaign with her, telling reporters, “I’m very happy with the progress I’m making.

“I feel like I play pretty good tennis and I’m definitely working on the practice court. Certain things I work on on the practice site that pay off don’t show up right away.

“There is a small time lag between actual results in a live situation. I’m definitely going there.’

For more stories like this, visit our sports page.