British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

JonH · Tennis legend

RE: Week 23 - WTA500 - HSBC Championships, Queens, London

Julia Carrot · All-time great

Thankyou so much.

wimdledont · Challenger level

When she wone the US Open, I thought Emma was the best returner in the tournament. Same again here.

The ITF profile page for Vekic lets you pick a surface to see all results on that surface....

www.itftennis.com/en/players/donna-vekic/800320917/cro/wt/s/activity/

She's made it to about 6 grass court WTA finals, going back as fas as Edgbaston 2013, and a Wimbledon semi in 2024.

-- Edited by wimdledont on Saturday 13th of June 2026 06:59:46 PM

Var · Challenger qualifying

JonH wrote:
Kennykoalabear wrote:
I was at Queens today and the atmosphere was incredible for the last match!
Big crowd for sure. Emma played v well. Like her old self. Where did Andy R go to for all those years!? haha

I dont think Andy went anywhere. More like where did Emma go for all those years lol. How different her career could have been?

Julia Carrot · All-time great

HarryGem wrote:
Julia Carrot wrote:
Is there anywhere I can watch a replay of that semi, not just highlights? Thanks
BBC2 on the I player. I have just watched it again. You need to watch the current programme and move the cusrer back to the time etc.

I didn't realise you could do that on Iplayer, cos on Sounds I don't think you can, at least not that way, you have to wait until it becomes officially 'available'.

Peter too · Tennis legend

emmsie69 wrote:
thegingerlightbulb wrote:
Can Emma still get seeded for Wimbledon?
Yes

She has just moved up 11 places to 31 in the live rankings.

B00thy · County player

I thought the story at the time was that Andy wouldn't go anywhere i.e. commit to going on tour, that conversation and decision taking place before the US Open. Or am I having a grey moment?

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Var wrote:
JonH wrote:
Kennykoalabear wrote:
I was at Queens today and the atmosphere was incredible for the last match!
Big crowd for sure. Emma played v well. Like her old self. Where did Andy R go to for all those years!? haha
I dont think Andy went anywhere. More like where did Emma go for all those years lol. How different her career could have been?

And how !

But at least we're here now - Andy R for King biggrin

Really uplifting to see

miriam abc · Club Coach

B00thy wrote:
I thought the story at the time was that Andy wouldn't go anywhere i.e. commit to going on tour, that conversation and decision taking place before the US Open. Or am I having a grey moment?

That's what I remember. Andy wouldn't travel.

DF · Tennis legend

miriam abc wrote:
B00thy wrote:
I thought the story at the time was that Andy wouldn't go anywhere i.e. commit to going on tour, that conversation and decision taking place before the US Open. Or am I having a grey moment?
That's what I remember. Andy wouldn't travel.

Yes that was it.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

miriam abc wrote:
B00thy wrote:
I thought the story at the time was that Andy wouldn't go anywhere i.e. commit to going on tour, that conversation and decision taking place before the US Open. Or am I having a grey moment?
That's what I remember. Andy wouldn't travel.

I don't think so

That came afterwards, a fair while afterwards

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

Emma fired Andy because she thought he wouldn't be the right guy to take her forward, it wasn't because he wouldn't travel

This is one of the immediate articles after she fired him, from The Guardian:

"The 18-year-old decided to dispense with the services of Andrew Richardson, despite her shock victory in New York, because she believes she needs a top-class coach to develop her game and fitness.

However, Richardson, who had first coached Raducanu between the ages of 11 and 13 and joined her team on a short-term contract after Wimbledon, had very little experience on the WTA Tour.

Explaining her decision, Radcanu said: After Wimbledon, I was ranked around 200 in the world. And, at the time I thought Andrew would be a great coach to try and I went to the States. Never did I even dream of winning the US Open and having the run I did, and now Im ranked 22 in the world which is pretty crazy to me.

Its tough to have that conversation with anyone, but I need someone whos had that professional tour experience, and has been through it, and seen players in my situation for many years, going through the same because its going to take a lot.

There are a lot more articles and interviews with Emma along the same line

And recent ones where she's asked if it was a mistake for her to fire Andy:

Speaking with the media ahead of the French Open, Raducanu was asked if it was "a mistake" to ditch Richardson five years ago.

Raducanu: It was very difficult to say I made a mistake

"I think at that time it was very difficult to say I made a mistake, because in my life everything changed upside down, and I didn't really think I had the most handle over the situation in the sense that I was being pulled left and right," the 23-year-old explained.

It's not a problem, everyone makes mistakes, or would do things differently if they had the time again, but it definitely wasn't Andy Richardson's doing

Jan · Hall of fame

Anyway, it's great that he's back!
And well done Emma!!!

GAMEOVER · Futures qualifying

Emma is playing Donna Vekic in the final. However Emma beat qualifier Blinkova in the first round who had beaten Vekic in the last round of qualifying. An unusual situation.

christ · Challenger qualifying

It won't be long before the "Mr Richardson deserted her" canard becomes the prevalent view, though: not everyone with dodgy recall has a CD to dig up the history. The BBC has already run with "Andrew Richardson - the coach who Raducanu has rehired after he unceremoniously left following her 2021 US Open win"

... especially as National Treasure Ms Raducanu finds it "very difficult to say that she made a mistake".

From my perspective I am just sad that we didn't get to see her in her prime with Mr Richardson alongside her.