"What Emma Raducanu did will never happen again" - Former Maria Sharapova agent on Brit's US Open title

Max Eisenbud, a former agent of Maria Sharapova and Li Na, recently talked at length about Emma Raducanu's 2021 US Open win.

Raducanu shocked the tennis world by winning the US Open after coming in from qualifying. She didn't drop a set the entire tournament, beating fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in an unprecedented final.

Eisenbud, who is head of clients at IMG Tennis and represents Raducanu, said that a feat like the Brit's will never happen again.

"That was incredible. What she did will never happen again," Eisenbud said in The Tennis Podcast.

The super-agent went on to reveal what was going on behind the scenes while Raducanu was beating her opponents left and right.

"I would say once she got to the fourth round, what's happening behind the scenes that the IMG machine is activating. What does that mean? That means we're reaching to the head of the IMG fashion to say okay, this is happening, can you watch this run, can you start talking to the brands, and maybe we invite them to the matches?" Eisenbud stated.

"Let's just start getting that on the radar, because what makes IMG great is we have all these experts in different fields. I call Will Ward who's got relationships with all the best brands - Dior, Channel - so we start activating him," he added.

The fashion industry wasn't the only thing the so-called IMG machine started working on. Eisenbud explained that he had everything planned well in advance for Raducanu.

"Then we're doing the same thing in all different categories. We're starting to light the IMG machine in getting all these experts within our system to start getting their contacts to start watching what's happening because something is starting to happen."

The Head of Clients at IMG then revealed the depth of what he and his team were doing, all unbeknownst to Emma Raducanu.

"We call Anna Wintour, who is of course watching what's going on because she's a huge tennis fan. She starts talking about it: 'Okay, if she continues to go, can we keep her here for Fashion Week?' All these types of conversations are starting to happen, gearing up for what could potentially happen," Eisenbud stated.

When asked how much of that the US Open champion knew at the time, Max Eisenbud answered:

"Zero! She knows nothing that's going on, all the way up to the point when she reached the semis, we were starting to pick outfits for her if she won. Because you need time for the designers, you can't give them 12 hours' notice".

"[It was for her] to wear for the trophy. When she won, our fashion people had seven or eight different looks waiting for the trophy [photoshoot] they did that day after. All that stuff she had no idea about," he added.

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"Emma Raducanu and her dad control the coaching stuff" - Max Eisenbud

Emma Raducanu at the 2023 Miami Open - Day 4

IMG's Head of Clients, Max Eisenbud, also talked about the rapid changes in Emma Raducanu's coaching team.

The young Brit recently parted ways with her fifth coach in less than two years, splitting from Sebastien Sachs in June 2023. Many were quick to criticize Raducanu for another change, and Eisenbud revealed that the coaching decisions are made by her team.

"The coaching situation, right or wrong, and this is something that her dad and Emma pretty much control on all the coaching stuff, that has been their philosophy all the way up through the juniors," Eisenbud said in The Tennis Podcast.

The super-agent further revealed that Emma Raducanu and her father are more comfortable with changing coaches than other players.

“They never had coaches for a long time. You’ve probably heard of that. For them, that is calm waters, having a coach for five months and going on to someone else. That is not traditional and not the norm for most to win a Grand Slam and change your coach," Eisenbud added.