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 number two 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 preseason training.
“I really worked on my fitness the last two months, less on the tennis court. So I’m just trying to get my feeling on the court.
“But today (against Jabeur) was a pretty positive step in seeing where I’m at and what I can do better. But physically I feel pretty good.”
‘Cut down a little bit’
Raducanu explained she had a tendency to spend too many hours on the court and believes she has to be smart about not overextending herself this upcoming period.
“I really obviously want to work hard, try to get back on court as much as possible but I could overdo it if I didn’t really think it through because I want to be back on court so much.
“I just need to maybe cut down a little bit on the hours sometimes.”
Raducanu, who started 2022 ranked 18 in the world after her historic US Open title run, has dealt with injuries throughout this past season.
“One of my biggest goals is to – it might not come this year, but to go out on the court and not think about my fitness, not think about, Oh, like start the timer, I’ve got 60 minutes to finish this match,” she said.
“I want to be able to go out there and just focus on the tennis. I think this year I’m in a better position but it’s still going to take some time to develop fully.
“I think my goal in 2023 is probably to win a title.”
