Emma Raducanu has hired fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura as she looks to move past the injuries that have plagued the last few years of her career.
Nakamura, 52, is one of the most respected physical trainers in tennis, having worked with Grand Slam champions and world No. 1s Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka. He was at London’s National Tennis Centre on Friday, where Raducanu confirmed the partnership.
“I think I can become one of the best athletes in tennis,” she told reporters. “I think he’s really going to help with that.”
Raducanu confirmed talks with Nakamura at the Billie Jean King Cup in Malaga last month, where she helped Great Britain to the semifinals and won her singles rubber in a 2-1 defeat to Slovakia. Nakamura will now fly to Brisbane with Raducanu’s team on Thursday December 12, where Raducanu will practice with her friend Priscilla Hon, the Australian world No. 167. She will not play the WTA 500 Brisbane International, instead spending Christmas in Auckland before entering the WTA 250 ASB Classic, which begins December 30.
Raducanu could also play the Adelaide International (from January 6) depending on qualification cutoffs and how successful she is in New Zealand. Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, is currently ranked No. 59 in a major improvement from her ranking of No. 301 on January 1 last year.
She missed the majority of the 2023 season after double wrist surgery and could only play 13 events thanks to more niggling injuries. After skipping the American hard-court swing and going out of the U.S. Open early, Raducanu sprained foot ligaments in her first tournament of the Asian hard-court swing after deliberately biasing her scheduling towards that part of the year. She did not return to the court until the Billie Jean King Cup.
The 22-year-old is determined to improve her fitness record, and said on Friday that Nakamura would be with her “pretty much most weeks”. He will form a core part of the team, along with her coach Nick Cavaday.
“I feel really strong,” Raducanu said, adding that “the only thing I can’t speak for is that I haven’t played that many matches.”
“It would be good to see as the level increases, and if I have to play more back-to-back, how I’m going to react,” she said.
Raducanu said that she feels a kinship with Nakamura because of their mutual intensity on the practice court, with no “chitchatting about other things.”
“I think he is going to help me explore how far I can go athletically. I think it’s a big strength of mine that I have nowhere near fulfilled,” she said.
Raducanu has struggled to stay fit for prolonged periods since winning the U.S. Open aged 18 three years ago; she now wants to see what she can do with a clear run of matches. Compatriot Jack Draper went through a similar stop-start run up until last season, in which he played his most-ever matches on tour and achieved his best results (U.S. Open semifinal, two ATP Tour titles) and world ranking (No. 15) to date.
The first significant target for Raducanu is the Australian Open, which begins Sunday January 12 in Melbourne.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Tennis, Women’s Tennis
2024 The Athletic Media Company
