Emma Raducanu's US Open glory now a distant memory amid chaos and instability

Emma Raducanu created one of the most enduring images in British sporting history when she charged to victory at the 2021 US Open. And yet, since that New York miracle, her career has been built on shifting sands.

On Thursday, Raducanu announced that she will not be working with Sebastian Sachs any more. This brings her tally of ex-coaches to five in less than two years, and sends her back out into the marketplace with an ever-worsening reputation for instability.

And it is not just in the coaching role that there are changes afoot. Ever since Raducanu arrived on tour, she has been managed by IMG agent Chris Helliar, a 31-year-old former Futures player who also represented her near contemporary Jack Draper in the early days.

Now it seems that IMG, the super-agency which has struck at least eight sponsorship deals on Raducanu’s behalf, are reorganising her team, with Maria Sharapova’s former agent Max Eisenbud (who is IMG’s tennis supremo) focusing more closely on her account.

As we look back to those photographs of a triumphant Raducanu holding up the trophy on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and then wearing a kimono-style jacket to the Met Gala, it is extraordinary to think how little has endured.

The one person from that campaign who still sometimes shows up in her entourage is physio Will “The Mechanic” Herbert – and even he is employed by the Lawn Tennis Association rather than Raducanu herself.

In the case of Sachs, Telegraph Sport understands that the “mutual decision” phrasing used by IMG is not the whole story. Not for the first time in the Raducanu project, contractual agreement could not be reached.

At 31, Sachs is a highly-rated young coach with an instinctive understanding of analytics (the data-based discipline which is becoming an increasingly essential part of the game’s tactical side). Everything that Raducanu has said about him has been positive, and seemed heartfelt as well.

While we have no information on Sachs’s rates, it is hard to believe that he would be hugely expensive by locker-room standards, given his relative inexperience. But how hard did Raducanu and her people try to keep him? One can only wonder what terms applied to her dormant period (in terms of on-court training) over the next few months.

The situation has echoes of the departure of Dmitry Tursunov, who cited “red flags” when he ended his coaching period with Raducanu at the close of last season.

Later, in an interview with the Craig Shapiro Tennis Podcast, Tursunov explained that “I stopped the negotiations [around a possible contract renewal]. I felt like the negotiations went too long. We started to negotiate over things that were so trivial and insignificant in my mind that it wouldn’t have worked. I didn’t feel secure enough.”

After everything that has happened, it would seem strange if anyone did feel secure around Raducanu’s camp. Even in the case of Jez Green, the experienced fitness trainer whose hiring in October promised to be a transformational moment, nothing was quite what it seemed at first.

Yes, Green has provided some useful instruction and advice. He is always worth listening to, and Raducanu looked visibly stronger when she returned from her off-season in January. But Green is not really her fitness trainer in the conventional sense. He is working with Raducanu on the side while accompanying other clients – originally Dominic Thiem, and now Sebastian Korda – around the tour.

Again, where is the continuity? Where is the simplicity? Where is the solid investment? It feels as if every aspect of Raducanu’s tennis life is being micro-managed and small-printed, with a view to seeking the best value for money. Surely someone should be looking at the big picture instead?

Since the US Open, she has tinkered with her technique, and even changed her string set-up, in an attempt to bring back the magic that carried her through that draw without dropping a set. Perhaps she felt pressure to back up her success with instant results (and a confession is due here, because we in the media have contributed greatly to that pressure).

But it was also Raducanu and her managers/advisors who declined to renew her coaching deal with Andrew Richardson, the man who steered her to that US Open title. A calm and reassuring presence, Richardson has remained extremely dignified since the split, but he did confirm in a recent interview that he would have liked to continue.

In Richardson’s absence, the nearest thing that Raducanu has had to a mentor is Tim Henman, who sat at courtside throughout her title run in his role as an Amazon Prime pundit. “Emma needs to find consistency and continuity with regards her team,” Henman told Telegraph Sport on Thursday. His words were deadpan, but one detected a depth of feeling beneath them.