Emma Raducanu trains at Ferrer Academy ahead of Rome return
En resumen
- Emma Raducanu is preparing to return to the tour at next week's Italian Open in Rome after missing several tournaments due to a viral illness.
- The 23-year-old British player trained at the Ferrer Academy near Benidorm, Spain, linking up again with Andrew Richardson, who coached her to her 2021 US Open title.
- There are no current plans for them to work together beyond this training period.
Resumen generado por IA
Por qué importa
Emma Raducanu burst onto the global tennis scene in 2021 when she won the US Open as an 18-year-old qualifier without dropping a set, becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in 1977. She has since struggled with injuries and coaching changes, and her ranking has fallen significantly from her career-high position.
Emma Raducanu has linked up again with Andrew Richardson, who coached her to the US Open title as a teenage qualifier. In anticipation of a return to the tour in Rome next week, the 23-year-old had a short training spell at the Ferrer Academy near Benidorm in Spain. Richardson is the tennis director at the academy, which was founded by former world number three and French Open runner-up David Ferrer. Raducanu's advisers say she wanted to practise on European clay before upcoming tournaments and her long history with Richardson - who also helped her as a junior - made the academy an attractive proposition. There are no currently no plans for the two to work together during the clay-court season or beyond. But Raducanu will train at the Foro Italico in Rome on Saturday in the hope she will be fit to play in next week's Italian Open. Raducanu missed March's Miami Open because of a viral illness and opted out of clay court events in Linz and Madrid to recover fully. It means her last appearance was in Indian Wells at the beginning of March. Raducanu has been relying on Alexis Canter for regular support since parting company with coach Francisco Roig after the Australian Open. She said in Indian Wells her mind was "open" to the possibility of employing another full-time coach, but expressed reservations about the scrutiny that comes with any of her choices. When Raducanu won the 2021 US Open without dropping a set as an 18-year-old qualifier, Richardson was in the coaching box. He had only replaced Nigel Sears after that summer's Wimbledon, but Raducanu and her family decided following her spectacular triumph in New York that an experienced WTA coach was required, and Richardson's contract was not extended. Raducanu is due to practise with German player Eva Lys in Rome on Saturday lunchtime. As a seeded player, she would receive a first-round bye and therefore not have to play before Thursday. There are also WTA tournaments in Strasbourg and Rabat in the week before the French Open, which rounds off the clay-court season and begins on 24 May.
Preguntas abiertas
- Will Raducanu hire a full-time coach after the clay-court season?
- How will her fitness hold up during the grueling clay-court season?
- Will she maintain her partnership with Alexis Canter?
