Emma Raducanu's new coach's step-daughter shares her true feelings on what the British star is like from personal experience

Emma Raducanu's coach, Mariona Autran, who is Francis Roig's stepdaughter, shared how she has been connected to tennis from a young age and praised the British No.1 for her qualities on and off the court. Roig started training Radacanu in August 2025 and previously trained the legendary Rafael Nadal.

Raducanu, who peaked at No. 10 in the WTA rankings, achieved massive success in 2021 by becoming the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title, without dropping a set. Although she hasn’t been able to replicate that feat in the years since, Raducanu has continued to make determined efforts.

In 2025, the 22-year-old reached the first WTA 1000 quarterfinals at the Miami Open and the semifinals of the women's doubles at the Citi Open. In other news, she parted with her long-time coach Nick Cavaday in January due to the latter's health issues and worked with Mark Petchey for a short period before joining the likes of Francis Roig for the latter part of the season.

After her recent US Open campaign, the Brit was showered with kind words from Roig's stepdaughter, Mariona Autran, who talked about her connection with tennis and how Raducanu has been nothing but 'amazing'. She said (via her Instagram story):

"Answering your questions about tennis - yes, I'm connected to it because my stepdad (Francis Roig) used to be Rafa Nadal's coach and now he's with Emma. That's why I've been going to the US Open for so many years. That's also how I know her. And to answer the other questions: she's honestly amazing - super humble, really fun, gorgeous, she loves what she does, she's very demanding with herself, and to me she's just a total star. Plus, she's learning Spanish so fast, it's impressive."

Mariona Autran admires Raducanu; Instagram - @marionautran

Raducanu withdrew from the Billie Jean King Cup finals to compete at the Korea Cup, slated for September 15 to 21.

---

Emma Raducanu once addressed the scrutiny she received for changing coaches at short intervals

Raducanu at the 2025 US Open - Previews - (Source: Getty)

Emma Raducanu hasn’t enjoyed much success on the court in recent times, and she has frequently changed coaches, often in short intervals. She has been under public scrutiny for not continuing a collaboration for long. The Grand Slam champion clarified that some partnerships were meant to be trials.

"When you see things like: ‘Oh, Emma on her ninth coach’, I’m like: ‘Guys, come on.’ Certain ones don’t count. If you’ve had a trial, you don’t have to carry on after the trial. A few have been trials, a few have been other situations. I just try and take the high road. And try to do what the royal family would do.”

Emma Raducanu paired up with Carlos Alcaraz in the mixed doubles at the US Open, but they lost to Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula in the first round.