Emma Raducanu`s former coach, Vlado Platenik, suggests that “stress and pressure” were major factors in their recent split.
The 22-year-old former U.S. Open champion began working with Platenik before the Indian Wells tournament this month.
However, just before the Miami Open, it was announced that their partnership ended prematurely after only one match.
Raducanu has had a challenging year so far.
After reaching the third round of the Australian Open, she experienced a four-match losing streak.
Following a win against Maria Sakkari in Dubai, Raducanu`s subsequent defeat to Karolina Muchova in the second round was overshadowed by an incident where a stalker was removed from the stands.
After parting ways with Raducanu, Platenik told the BBC: “I understand Emma, she`s in a difficult position.
“The world is watching her after the U.S. Open, and everyone, including herself, has high expectations for what she will do next.
“So, it`s understandable that she is under a lot of pressure. She mentioned feeling stressed to me.
“There are no hard feelings from my side. She ended the relationship fairly, maybe quickly, but this is tennis, this is sport. We have to respect that.”
“She wasn`t feeling okay, and it was her decision. I didn`t want to discuss it in detail. I believe the player needs to feel good and make their own decisions. Sometimes decisions are good, and sometimes they are bad.”
Raducanu lost to Moyuka Uchijima in the first round of Indian Wells, which was Platenik`s only match as her coach.
Despite this, the world No. 60 has rebounded in Dubai, defeating Sayaka Ishii and eighth seed Emma Navarro to reach the third round.
Platenik, 49, had expected to coach Raducanu until Roland Garros and believes their brief work together is already showing results.
The Slovakian added: “We had a good conversation, and she communicated well. I was very pleased because I must say I`ve never seen a player improve so quickly – in just eight or nine days.
“She grasped many things very fast. And I think it was evident in the first round.
“She played technically and tactically correctly – exactly what we had been practicing, so I`m happy and hope she benefited from my help.”
Raducanu, whose previous coach Nick Cavaday stepped down for health reasons earlier this year, will now be looking for her eighth coach.
Meanwhile, the British No. 2 will play against American McCartney Kessler in the third round of the Miami Open later today.
After her second-round victory over Navarro, her first win against a top 10 player this year, Raducanu said: “In the third set, I used a lot of emotion.
“I`ve been through a lot, and I told myself: `You`ve endured too much to just give up, you know`.”
“So I fought for every point as if my life depended on it, and that was very powerful.”
