Emma Raducanu can deal with the high expectations around her but needs to find a coach and stick with them, according to former British number one John Lloyd.
Raducanu is set to defend her US Open title at Flushing Meadows as the final grand slam of the year gets underway on Monday.
The teenager's sensational success at the 2021 tournament as a qualifier came from nowhere, but she has been unable to replicate it since, having not won any further singles titles.
In fact, she has not even been beyond the quarter-finals of any slam or WTA Tour event since her extraordinary success.
Lloyd still struggles to comprehend her achievement.
Speaking to Stats Perform, Lloyd said: "When you win a slam the expectations are going to go through the roof, that's just the way it is.
"She achieved something, I'd liken it to Rocky, it was very similar. People have sent me film scripts like the one Wimbledon, the tennis film that came out, and I told the person, they sent me the script six months before, I said, 'This is stupid, stop coming up with these movies where you get some guy or woman comes up from the qualifiers and wins a grand slam, it doesn't happen, it's stupid, it's never going to happen.' And then she goes and does it.
"What she achieved was amazing, but she did it almost like getting an A in a test without doing the homework. She really didn't do the homework to get there.
"She hasn't done the miles yet, and her body hasn't, the toughness hasn't come. She went above it before she was ready in some ways, but she's already got it, that's in her pocket now. She is a slam winner and no-one can take that away from her.
"The expectations are unbelievably high, and they're going be and she has to face that fact, she can’t hide it, she's a slam winner so people are going to expect, but people in the game know that it was going be a tough year [for her]."
The 19-year-old split from her coach Torben Beltz in April after just six months, saying she needed "a new training model" and she has been working with Dmitry Tursunov on a trial basis in the last month.
Beltz became the third coach to move on from working with Raducanu in just 12 months after she swapped Nigel Sears for Andrew Richardson, who had been in her corner at last year's US Open.
Lloyd acknowledges there is not necessarily a right way to do things in tennis, though he is certainly not convinced by Raducanu's approach of choosing a new coach every few months.
"I'm not a big fan of the coaching situation," Lloyd added. "After what Richard Williams did [coaching Venus and Serena Williams] … to say that there's a norm, he threw that out the window.
"What they're doing now in coaching is almost like they're getting hold of coaches, soaking up like a sponge all the information they have and then they go onto the next. I don't think that works in tennis. I could be proved wrong, but I don't think that's right.
"You have to have coaches that you trust completely, because I think a lot of winning matches – I don't want to give too much credit to coaches because it's the person on the court that does the work – but I think a lot of matches are won by the night before the match, and even the morning of the match… you have a trust a coach and what they're saying to you.
"You're a unit, and I don't think chopping and changing having a different coach every three months is the right way to go about. I could be wrong but I think she has to have a settled coach."
Sinner inspires comeback to help Italy reach Davis Cup semi-finals
Jannik Sinner kept Italy's hopes of retaining the Davis Cup alive after winning matches in the singles and doubles to inspire a 2-1 comeback triumph over Argentina on Thursday.
Sinner and Matteo Berrettini edged Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4 7-5 in the deciding game to set up a rematch of last year's showpiece against Australia in the final four.
However, the Italians started off on the back foot when Francisco Cerundolo downed Olympic bronze medallist Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-1 in an hour and 29 minutes.
Musetti converted just two of the eight break points he was presented with, as Cerundolo put Argentina on the brink of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2016.
But two-time grand slam champion Sinner, who won the ATP Finals last weekend, carried his momentum forward from Turin against Sebastian Baez.
The world number one breezed to a 6-2 6-1 win over his opponent, serving seven aces to the Argentine's one, while also saving all four break points he faced.
Sinner then returned to the court alongside Berrettini, with the pair replacing Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the must-win clash.
The pair won 90% of their first-serve points and fended off all five break points they faced, earning a key break at 5-5 in the second set before surging to victory.
"It was a must-win match," said Sinner. "Very different conditions. The court is very, very fast and tough to play.
"I haven't had so much time to adapt to the conditions, but I'm happy about today."
Data Debrief: The Italian Job
Italy edged closer to becoming only the sixth nation to retain the Davis Cup since the final stage was introduced 52 years ago, and first since the Czech Republic in 2013.
But they were inspired by Sinner once again, who proved why he will end the year at the summit of the ATP rankings.
And after leading Italy to their first Davis Cup title since 1976 with a victory against Australia's Alex de Minaur last year, he will fancy his chances this time around.
Ebden and Thompson send Australia to third straight Davis Cup semi
Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson booked Australia's place in the Davis Cup semi-finals after the pair clinched their deciding match against the United States to win 2-1.
The pair, who won gold at the Paris Olympics, beat Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton 6-4 6-4 to put Lleyton Hewitt's side into their third successive semi-final at the men's team event.
Australia, who have won the tournament 28 times, largely had Thanasi Kokkinakis to thank after his remarkable triumph over Shelton in the first match of the day.
Kokkinakis saved four match points and let slip six of his own before eventually prevailing 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) in an engrossing encounter that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
However, in the rematch of a recent ATP Finals group-stage match, Taylor Fritz emerged victorious over Alex De Minaur as he did in Turin a week ago.
Despite De Minaur going 2-0 up in the second set, Fritz roared back to earn a 6-3 6-4 victory to send the tie the distance in Malaga.
But Australia held their nerve, and will discover their opponents later on Thursday when reigning champions Italy take on Argentina.
Ebden and Thompson’s win came after United States’ captain Bob Bryan opted for a late change, with Paul and Shelton replacing Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
“We were expecting the other pair, but we knew they’ve got incredible players who can play doubles,” said Ebden.
“We were ready. A slight adjustment obviously. More huge serving singles players than the doubles craft, maybe, but it was just as big a challenge as any.
"Out here, finals live match, just to play with Jordan here was real fun. Following what Kokk did, unfortunately Alex went down, but what a day. So fun, so happy.”
Data Debrief: Australia ready to right Davis Cup wrongs
Australia have failed to win the Davis Cup since 2003, but they will be confident of halting that streak this time around.
If they take the trophy, they will have reason to thank Kokkinakis, whose tie-break win against Shelton was the longest an Australian player had featured in at the tournament, surpassing Pat Rafter's win over David Rikl in the 1997 quarter-finals of the competition (15-13).
Ebden and Thompson also shone when it mattered most, serving four aces compared to Paul and Shelton's two, while also winning 92% of their first-serve points.
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.
"Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.
"It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much.
"He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."
Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.
"Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
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