Injury boost for Emma Raducanu as she ramps up coaching team ahead of Australian Open
Emma Raducanu has been through more coaches than most players have in an entire career and now the 21-year-old is welcoming a familiar face back into her team ahead of the Australian Open.
Raducanu has earned direct entry into the main draw at the Australian Open following a number of late withdrawals and she is now preparing to make a Grand Slam comeback after missing the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open due to injury last year.
The 2021 US Open champion made a winning return to the court at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Tuesday after being sidelined since April following operations on both her wrists and one ankle.
It appeared that Raducanu was going to be required to go through qualifying for the Australian Open due to her protected ranking – given to players who have been sidelined long-term – not being high enough.
Yet the withdrawal of players ranked in the top 100 of the WTA rankings has given Raducanu a chance to shine in Melbourne and she is set to have experienced and respected coach Nick Cavaday by her side in Melbourne.
Raducanu has not had a permanent coach since splitting from Sebastian Sachs at the beginning of June, but she appears to be building a new team around her ahead of what she hopes will be an active 2024 on the tour.
Cavaday is a highly respected coach who has been leading the LTA’s National Academy programme in Loughborough in recent years, honing the talents of some of the best young players in British tennis.
He stepped away from that role last year and worked with Raducanu as she added the finishing touches to her preparation at the LTA’s National Tennis Centre in London prior to flying to New Zealand.
Cavaday worked with Raducanu as she worked her way through the junior ranks and is a familiar voice to have at her side as she looks to make an impact in her first match back at Grand Slam level.
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Jane O’Donoghue, a former coach who left the LTA to pursue a career in finance, has also been part of Raducanu’s coaching team in recent weeks and was with er in Auckland as she made a return to the WTA Tour with a couple of encouraging performances.
O’Donoghue also helped out Raducanu at Wimbledon in 2022 when she was between coaches, and the former US Open champion said: “It’s really nice and refreshing to have her around. I know she has my best interests at heart and it’s just nice to have a familiar face.”
While it is likely to take time for Raducanu to find her feet on the match court again, she believes she is returning to the tour a better player and hungry to succeed.
“It’s going to be fun, I think, going out there competing again, having the competitive juices flowing,” she said.
“I’ve been training really well in practice so overall I’m feeling really good about my game. I think tennis wise I’m better than I was a year ago today, it’s just playing a match it’s going to be different.
“I got to spend a lot of time just thinking how I feel and I definitely got that hunger back just to be on the court competing, training, sweating. I think you really appreciate the time you have when you’re healthy and on court.”
It has also been confirmed that Raducanu will play another warm-up match before the Australian Open after it was announced she will play in the Kooyong Classic exhibition event.
Confirmation that she is playing another match before her Grand Slam return is a positive sign after she played against Elina Svitolina with a strapping on her thigh.
She also appeared to be struggling with her back as her energy levels faded in that match, but she clearly feels another match will help her preparations for the Australian Open.
