Raducanu misses out as Carril joins Murray
EMMA RADUCANU is in a “very good position” in her search for a full-time coach but it will not be Esteban Carril, who is set to join Andy Murray’s team.
Raducanu had a trial with the highly-regarded Spaniard last month and he had appeared the front-runner for the position. Carril helped develop Johanna Konta into a top-10 player and has most recently been working with another British player, Katie Swan, who revealed yesterday after winning a lower-tier title in Estonia that it would be their final tournament together.
Swan is managed by Murray’s 77 agency and Carril will now head to the Stockholm Open for a trial week, with a view to joining the Scot’s team.
Raducanu, meanwhile, is preparing for her final tournament of the season, the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, where she is the top seed.
She arrived in Austria on Saturday accompanied only by her mother Renee and agent Chris Helliar, but it appears she, too, has made significant progress in appointing a successor to Andrew Richardson.
The 18-year-old said: “I’m here on my own, I’m being my own coach again this week, which I think is really good for me long term. I’m really feeling positive about my coaching situation, it’s in a good place. I’ll have a coach in place at the Australian Open.
“I had some trials and they went well. I’m really excited to get some good work done in pre-season and we’re going to have a really good time for sure. I think my game’s going to be moving in the right direction so I’m pretty excited for that.”
Raducanu declined to reveal more information on the identity of her preferred candidate, saying cryptically when pushed: “I’m in a very good position. It’s just a bit confidential. It’s my decision. It’s not fully done.”
Raducanu cited LTA physio Will Herbert as a key presence in her team in New York, and he was also with her in Cluj-Napoca last week, but the teenager said she had not yet thought about having a full-time physio or fitness trainer.
“I don’t have a full-time team at all,” said the teenager who will play her first match at the TipsArena tomorrow against Kateryna Kozlova of the Ukraine or Wang Xinyu of China. “I think a coach for me is the priority. It’s so new to me to be in this position where I potentially could. I think it’s a great privilege but I haven’t put anything in place at all.”
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic gained a measure of revenge for the crushing of his Grand Slam dreams by defeating Daniil Medvedev to win the Rolex Paris Masters.
The world No.1 was back in match action last week for the first time since falling one victory short of claiming all four slam titles in a year when he was beaten by Medvedev in the US Open final in September.
They met again for the trophy in the French capital, and second-seed Medvedev had the upper hand early on, but this time Djokovic turned the tables to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.