How Raducanu plans to become ‘best athlete out there’ ahead of Australian Open
The 22-year-old says her athleticism is 'a strength I have nowhere near fulfilled' and has now hired a full-time fitness trainer to help maximise it
ROEHAMPTON — Emma Raducanu is getting used to spending Christmas away from home, but she could not be further away this time around as she tries to prepare herself for the 2025 season in the best possible way.
Raducanu, 22, spent December 25 last year on a flight to Australia, but will make an even bigger sacrifice this year: she heads Down Under for a training camp on Thursday before tournaments in Auckland, Adelaide and of course the Australian Open in Melbourne, which starts on 13 January.
She sees the brutal conditions of Brisbane – it is due to be 30°C and 75 per cent humidity on the day she lands – as the perfect preparation for the first grand slam of the year, often the most gruelling.
“I had a bit of a different pre-season this year because I was injured earlier, and I did a lot of training,” Raducanu told reporters at her training base at the National Tennis Centre in London.
“So I just want to get out in the heat a bit earlier.
“It makes sense to go all the way rather than go somewhere and then come back and then fly out again.”
Raducanu is also friendly with world No 167 Priscilla Hon, who is based in the city and will act as hitting partner, as will a number of other top players.
The WTA event in Brisbane that starts at the end of the December is set to feature Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Daria Kasatkina, Victoria Azarenka and Jelena Ostapenko, so there will be no shortage of high-quality match practice in the city.
After her stint in Queensland, Raducanu will then fly to Auckland, her first event of the season, where she will spend Christmas Day, before the tournament starts just five days later.
The city holds mixed memories for her: she made an impressive injury comeback there last year and nearly knocked out No 2 seed Elina Svitolina, but it is also the venue where she damaged her left ankle in 2023, which eventually needed surgery to fix.
One of Raducanu’s best friends from juniors lives in Auckland though and will host her for a beach house barbecue on Christmas Day.
Another key face in Raducanu’s run-up to the Australian Open will be Yutaka Nakamura, the Japanese fitness trainer who is best known for working with former word No 1s Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka, now an official member of the Raducanu team.
It is the first time the 2021 US Open champion has hired a full-time member of staff to work on her strength and conditioning; she had previously relied on a rotating cast of LTA staff physios to fulfil the role.
When she won the US Open, a particularly gruelling run given she came through qualifying, she described the LTA’s Will Herbert as her “mechanic” for keeping her in one piece, but he is now a semi-permanent fixture with men’s British No 1 Jack Draper and Raducanu opened talks with Nakamura last month.
A deal has now been struck and Nakamura, who is already working with her, will fly out to Australia with Raducanu on Thursday, and will be with the Brit “most weeks” this season.
“I am really looking forward to it. It’s nice because as a person, I think we’re quite similar in the sense that we’re very focused with our work,” Raducanu said.
“When we work, we’re not talking or chitchatting about other things. It’s very much like this is our time to focus.
“When we’re off the court or at the gym, then we talk about whatever.
“It’s nice to have someone who’s on the same sort of wavelength as you. He is going to help me just really explore how far I can go, like athletically. 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.
My natural athleticism is something that I have to use. I have to hone it, I have to polish it, it’s still pretty raw and I don’t think anywhere near fully developed so he’s going to help me explore that.”
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Nakamura will also provide more stability in a Raducanu team that is becoming more orthodox are the chops and changes of her first two years on tour, when eight different individuals played the role of coach in one way or another.
Nick Cavaday, an old coach from Raducanu’s days as a 10-year-old junior in Bromley, became No 9 12 months ago, but has lasted longer than the rest and the rapport between the two is clear.
Raducanu will also hope to make herself a more consistent presence on tour after such an injury-hit start to her career.
She missed nearly two months of tennis due to a foot injury in Seoul before making her comeback for Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup in November, where she encouragingly won all three of her singles matches.
“I feel really strong,” Raducanu said.
“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 [Billie Jean King Cup], and 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.”
