(Reuters) – Emma Raducanu says her new coach Sebastian Sachs has been appointed on a trial basis until the end of the year.
Last year’s U.S. Open champion Raducanu was watched by Sachs, her fifth coach in 18 months, on Friday as she lost to world number two Ons Jabeur on her injury return in an exhibition match in Abu Dhabi.
Sachs, 30, guided Belinda Bencic to Olympic gold last year and was earlier part of the coaching team of Victoria Azarenka, a former world number one.
He has teamed up with Raducanu after Dmitry Tursunov decided not to continue his partnership with the 20-year-old Briton following the U.S. Open this year.
“We are trialling until the end of the year and just seeing how it goes really,” Raducanu, who is ranked 76th in the world, was quoted as saying by the BBC.
“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 pulled out of Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup team in October due to a wrist injury, but now says she is injury free.
“Physically, body, injury-wise I’m good now, I’m clear. Touch wood it stays like that,” Raducanu said.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru and Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Toby Davis)
