Emma Raducanu will have a new coach next year — the German who helped turn Angelique Kerber into a three-time Grand Slam champion and world No 1.
Hamburg-based Torben Beltz had a reminder that Raducanu is very much a work in progress on Tuesday night when she was knocked out of the Upper Austrian Ladies Linz, beaten 6-1, 6-7, 7-5 by China’s Xinyu Wang.
He was not in Linz to watch the match but she confirmed that they will start together after she takes a break at the end of what has been an extraordinary season.
Some hard physical work will be in order, although Raducanu was later keen not to rise to the bait offered by England rugby coach Eddie Jones, who had suggested she might have become distracted by outside opportunities.
Insisting that she did not know what his comments were about she said: ‘I have my parents, who would 100 per cent let me know if I was getting swayed.’
