After winning the 2021 US Open as a teenage qualifier, Emma Raducanu split from coach Andrew Richardson. Five years later, she's reuniting with him on a full-time basis. The reunion answers a persistent question about why she ever left the man who guided her to that unforgettable Flushing Meadows victory, where she played with an aggression and fearlessness she's struggled to replicate.

Raducanu's 2025 start has been poor — a second-round exit at the Australian Open in January prompted her to speak publicly about wanting to play "a way more similar to how I was playing when I was younger." Richardson's return suggests she believes surrounding herself with trusted confidants unlocks her best tennis, something the revolving door of coaching appointments has disrupted.

This marks the latest familiar face in her coaching circle, following Nick Cavaday and Mark Petchey — both of whom have known her since childhood. Richardson is the latest attempt to recapture the intent and freedom that defined her teenage breakthrough, a reunion five years in the making.