Emma Raducanu has hired Maria Sharapova’s former fitness trainer with the aim of becoming “one of the best athletes” in tennis.
The British No.2 has been dogged by injuries since her shock US Open win in 2021 and missed two months with an ankle ligament strain suffered in September.
Radacanu has now appointed Yutaka Nakamura, who worked with the Russian superstar and Naomi Osaka, as her first full-time fitness coach to build her on-court resilience.
The Japanese will fly out to Australia with her coach Nick Cavaday on Thursday, December 12, to prepare for her new season which starts in Auckland on December 30.
“Yutaka’s going to be with me a lot next year, pretty much most weeks.” said Raducanu. “I am really looking forward to it. I think it’s nice because as a person, I think we’re quite similar in the sense that we’re very focused with our work.
“On the court, it’s not like chitchat and stuff. So I think it’s nice to have someone who’s on the same sort of wavelength as you. I think he is going to help me just really explore how far I can go, like athletically. I think it’s a big strength of mine that I have nowhere near fulfilled.
“I think I can become one of the best athletes out there in tennis and I’m just looking forward to seeing how much I can do. And I think he’s really going to help with that. And the way I’m working with him and Nick, it’s a lot more integrated.”
Raducanu, who has been working with Nakamura at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, will fly to Brisbane for a week’s training on the Gold Coast with her Aussie pal Priscilla Hon before spending Christmas in New Zealand.
“I had a bit of a different pre-season this year because I was injured earlier, and I did a lot of training,” she said. “So I just want to get out in the heat a bit earlier. And it makes sense to go all the way rather than go somewhere and then come back and then fly out again.
“I didn’t want to go straight to Auckland because if you get to a tournament too early, you kind of get a bit stale before the match. So I wanted to go there and it’s like tournament time. I still wanted the heat, so I’m going to go to Brisbane for a week.”
“Is this the best my body has felt heading into a winter period? Yeah, I feel really strong. I feel really fit. The only thing I can’t really speak for, is I haven’t played that many matches. So it’s different. On the training court I feel amazing. I feel like I’m running around, throwing myself around on the court, but it’s different playing matches.
“I played a few at Fed Cup, and it was, yeah, I felt good. I felt like I recovered well. I wasn’t tiring in the matches. It would just be good to see as the level increases, and if I have to play more back-to-back, how I’m going to react.”
Raducanu is also considering playing in Adelaide before the Australian Open starts in Melbourne on January 12.
