Tennis analyst Barry Cowan says people must not have “knee-jerk reactions” just because Emma Raducanu loses a match, but he insists she needs long-term planning.
The 19-year-old has been unable to find any momentum since her stunning US Open triumph in September.
Her pre-season training in December was disrupted by a bout of Covid-19 and she then struggled with a blister on her hand at the Australian Open.
The British No 1 suffered a minor injury to her left leg during a gruelling first-round match against Daria Saville in Guadalajara – the longest WTA match of the season – before pulling out of the WTA tournament in Monterrey.
She could now be a doubt for Indian Wells, starting on March 7.
This is going to be a difficult part of the year for Emma because of Indian Wells, Miami and then the clay where she’s incredibly inexperienced but just because she loses a match, it’s not the end of the world.
Although Cowan says Raducanu might not be playing top-10 tennis right now, it’s important she maintains her relationship with coach, Torben Beltz.
“She needs consistency around her to put in the hard yards and improve as a player. There’s so much there in terms of her tennis, but there are certain things along the way that are going to affect you because your life is going to change and she’s in demand,” Cowan told Sky Sports.
“Right now, anything that’s happening on the match court for me is something that I don’t get worried about. It’s elsewhere. Is she putting in the hard practice sessions? Is she focused? Has she got her mind on tennis? At the moment, I’m not worried about it.
“This is going to be a difficult part of the year for Emma because of Indian Wells, Miami and then the clay where she’s incredibly inexperienced but just because she loses a match, it’s not the end of the world.
“If she feels pressure is building then unfortunately that only tends to go one way and then you panic a bit and if she makes another coaching change because she’s lost another couple of matches, it’s short-term. She needs long-term planning which is something I hope will happen.
“If she has three coaches in a year and she’s constantly changing things, searching for the US Open level, then I think her confidence can erode quickly.”
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