Star Raducanu’s bid to resurrect career
LONDON: Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu revealed she has started working with Sebastian Sachs on a trial basis until the end of the year, making the German her fifth coach in 18 months.
Sachs, who most recently had been working with Olympic champion Belinda Bencic, is with Raducanu in Abu Dhabi this weekend and was giving her encouraging messages during her close three-set defeat to world No.2 Ons Jabeur in their exhibition clash at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship on Friday.
Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, ended her coaching partnership with Dmitry Tursunov in October and says things have been going positively so far with 30-year-old Sachs.
“We are trialling until the end of the year and just seeing how it goes really,” said 76th-ranked Raducanu.
“It’s been going well. I’ve done a week with him so far and I think he’s a really calm influence. He’s on it, switched on, and yeah, I’m excited to see how it goes.”
Raducanu, 20, shut down her season in October due to a wrist injury and spent two months at home rebuilding her fitness before getting back on court a week ago.
The young Brit says she has recovered from her physical issues and is looking forward to kicking off her 2023 campaign at the WTA event in Auckland, before heading to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
“Physically, body, injury-wise I’m good now, I’m clear. Touch wood it stays like that,” said Raducanu, who will attend the World Cup final between Argentina and France in Doha on Sunday before flying to Singapore to resume her pre-season training.