Emma Raducanu turns to former coach as she confirms he will ‘help me out this week’

There will be a new face in Emma Raducanu’s player box at the Abu Dhabi Open, but it is not an unfamiliar one as she will team up with one of her former coaches.
The 2021 US Open is searching for a new mentor after Nick Cavaday stepped down following the Australian Open due to health reasons.
Raducanu travelled to Singapore for last week’s WTA 250 event with her mother and fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura by her side and lost in the first round.
She reached out to a familiar face ahead of her trip to the United Arab Emirates what was initially just meant to be a “catch up”.
Croatian Roman Kelecic coached Raducanu when she was still playing junior tennis on the ITF circuit and he will now join her at her next event.
“He travelled with me when I was like 14,15, in the junior ITFs; we went to all the glamorous places together when we were younger in the juniors,” the British star told The National.
“And we haven’t honestly seen each other in so many years. But he’s based out of Dubai, and I think in this situation, I mean, I wanted to see him anyway, to catch up. So I texted him to catch up, and now he’s on court with me, so he’s going to help me out this week.”
Since making her breakthrough in 2021, Raducanu has had several different coaches as she has worked with Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Dmitry Tursunov, Torben Beltz, Sebastian Sachs and most recently Cavaday.
She appeared to have found a long-term solution in Cavaday as he joined in late 2023 and helped her return to inside the top 60 of the WTA Rankings after she had slumped to outside the top 300.
But Cavaday’s health comes first.
“It’s difficult. Nick is a great person. He’s someone I’ve known since I was a young girl, and he coached me before, so I think we were working really well together,” Raducanu said.
“Unfortunately, he had to prioritise his health, which I completely understand, and I support him, and I just wish him the speediest of recoveries.”
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Don’t expect her to make a hasty decision about Cavaday’s replacement as she admits she still has a lot to figure out in the coming weeks.
“I think that’s why I haven’t necessarily jumped into something straight away, because I want to make sure it’s a right fit,” she said.
“And I think this period where I don’t necessarily have someone is going to tell me a lot. It’s going to teach me a lot, what I want, what I don’t want to look for in the next person.
“So I think I’m using this time period to just figure out what I really value. I’m not too sure yet right now. I haven’t come to any plans or decisions. So yeah, I’m just taking it, using the next couple weeks to see how I feel, and then make a decision.”