It was a disappointing outing for Emma Raducanu at the Indian Wells Open. After being knocked out of the women’s doubles in the Round of 32, her singles campaign also ended early. The Brit suffered a heavy 6–1, 6–1 defeat to Amanda Anisimova, failing to progress beyond the Round of 32. Raducanu had reunited with former coach Mark Petchey ahead of the tournament in hopes of turning things around, but the results fell short of expectations.

“Mark helped me out a lot this week, and it was nice to be on court with him again.” Emma Raducanu told Sky Sports after the match. “But he will be commentating for Tennis Channel this week, probably until the end, so I don’t know how much time I will get with him before Miami.”

With Petchey having to fulfill his broadcasting duties, he will continue to stay in California, while Raducanu will gear up for the Miami Open. The 23-year-old feels that she is a long way away from where she wants to be and admitted that she needs to bring a change to her game to get the better of higher-ranked players.

“If I’m not feeling it, that gap feels more evident in terms of the weight of the shot, in terms of power. You just feel a little bit behind, and your punches aren’t landing as much as theirs are. I need to be aggressive when playing those players, but I think there’s still a long way to go to be doing that,” she added.

Raducanu has been playing without a full-time coach since the 2026 Australian Open, but her form has only dipped further. She had ended her partnership with Francisco Roig after a second-round exit at the Grand Slam. This was the ninth coach to have parted ways with the British No. 1. At first, she decided to continue with her hitting partner Alexis Canter, and this decision appeared to have actually worked when she made it to the final of the Transylvania Open.

This was her first final appearance since her US Open triumph in 2021. However, things didn’t go as planned in the final, and Romania’s Sorana Cîrstea comprehensively defeated her by 6-0, 6-2. What followed from here was a string of dismal results. She exited the Qatar Open in the Round of 64 after withdrawing from her match against Colombia’s Camila Osorio, which finished 2-6, 6-4, 2-0.

The Dubai Championships weren’t any better for Raducanu, as she once again got knocked out in the Round of 64. This time, it was Antonia Ružić who got the better of her. The match went down to the third set, and it was the Croatian who came out on top by 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. Desperate to improve her form, Raducanu decided to bring back Petchey ahead of the Indian Wells Open.

Mark Petchey’s previous stints with Emma Raducanu

Petchey has previously had two coaching stints with Raducanu. He had worked with her for a brief period in 2020 before reuniting in 2025 ahead of the Miami Open. While he would only spend four months with her on the second occasion, the Brit’s performances went on to improve drastically during that stretch.

He coached her until Wimbledon before departing due to his broadcasting duties getting in the way. Under Petchey’s guidance, Raducanu maintained an impressive form of 15-8 and looked to be back on track. However, her form declined once again as he left, and she would only win 13 out of her next 27 matches.

Petchey’s third stint with Raducanu had begun on a positive note as she defeated Anastasia Zakharova 6-1, 6-3 in the Round of 64 at the Indian Wells. But she didn’t prove to be a match for Anisimova, who bulldozed past her and moved into the Round of 16. One-sided defeats like these can be a major hit to morale, but Raducanu needs to maintain her composure with the Miami Open being right around the corner.

The tournament will begin on March 17 and will be highly important for Raducanu. Notably, she had made it to the quarter-finals last year before being eliminated by the USA’s Jessica Pegula. An early exit this time around can lead to a massive hit to her ranking, and that would be the last thing that she needs.