Emma Raducanu in talks to hire a fitness coach as she seeks to resolve injury issues

Emma Raducanu says she is “in talks” about hiring prominent fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura as she tries to resolve the injury problems that have plagued her.

Raducanu will make her return to competition on Friday at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals if she is selected to compete by Great Britain coach Anne Keothavong after nearly two months out with a leg injury. you heard the Korea Open in September.

After undergoing surgery on his hands and ankle last year, the final months of Raducanu’s season were once again affected by his physical weakness. Nakamura is a well-known figure on the circuit, having worked with Maria Sharapova, Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori among others, and could be an investment to help strengthen her body to withstand the rigors of the tour.

“I think my goal next year is to stay on the court a little longer,” Raducanu said. “This year, I reached the top 60 in the world, but I wasn’t playing – I think less than 15 events. So, I know that if I’m on the court and I’m healthy and I compete, I can go even higher I think athletics is my strength, but it’s nowhere to be found. I’m eager to explore that further, and I’m committed to that.”

Seven months ago, Raducanu played some of the best tennis of his career as he led Great Britain to a comfortable victory against France on indoor clay courts. Raducanu’s victories over Caroline Garcia and Diane Parry were complemented by a first clay court win for British No 1 Katie Boulter, who outlasted Clara Burel in straight sets.

Having produced such a strong result at their weakest venue, competing in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on hard courts was an exciting prospect for Great Britain. However, Raducanu has played just three tournaments since Wimbledon in July after skipping most of the US hard court season before losing her first match at the US Open. Raducanu said he did not play for four or five weeks after suffering a leg injury on September 21 in Seoul.

After spending a long time in China with her grandmother, reading more and taking up the piano again, she has been gradually increasing her training load in the past few weeks. “Even though it’s the end of the season for a lot of players, I feel like I’m starting and running things well, I’m training well, I’m training hard, and I’m already building for next year.” “I don’t want to have any more time off. Because of my injury, I already have some problem.”

Over the next two weeks, the top division tournaments, the women’s Billie Jean King Cup and the men’s Davis Cup, will be played in the same city in consecutive weeks for the first time in history. The women’s event was originally scheduled to take place in Sevilla before being moved to Málaga.

After “Dana” in Valencia, torrential rain and floods responsible for the death of 216 people, Málaga was completely closed by heavy rain on Wednesday. The ITF has decided to reschedule the scheduled opening match between Spain and Poland from Wednesday evening to Saturday morning. That decision proved to be correct as many roads in Málaga were temporarily flooded during the night. The players were not allowed on site to train.

For the British team, it meant spending the day in their hotel training and having fun on Raducanu’s 22nd birthday. “We’ve done yoga and other core sessions, and it’s good sometimes to have a forced break and lots of team reunions and birthday parties, chocolate cake, a little bit,” Heather said. Watson. “But yeah, I think it was very concerning for the country to see what they went through recently, which is very difficult.”

Practice resumed on a cold, dry Thursday and the tournament opened with Japan defeating Romania in the first game. There is huge potential ahead for the team of Boulter, Raducanu, Harriet Dart, Watson and Olivia Nicholls and they will undoubtedly be favorites in their last 16 clash against Germany. Boulter and Raducanu are ranked higher than Germany’s No 1 player, No 84 Laura Siegemund. The Thai champions will face Canada, the defending champions, on Sunday.