By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, December 6, 2024
Photo: Kate Green/Getty for LTA
Aiming to enhance her athleticism and strengthen her body, Emma Raducanu has hired a well-known fitness trainer.
22-year-old Raducanu has hired a fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, The BBC’s Russell Fuller reports. Nakamura has worked with Grand Slam champions before Maria Sharapova AND Naomi Osaka.
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World No. 58 Raducanu has been plagued by surgery and injury since her inspired run at the 2021 US Open, where she made history as the first qualifier, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles crown.
Raducanu, who fell to Sofia Kenin in the first round of the US Open, reached the quarterfinals in two of her last three tournaments of 2024.
The BBC reports that Raducanu has been training with her team – coach Nick Cavaday and Nakamura – trained this week in London at the National Tennis Center in preparation for her 2025 opening in Auckland.
Raducanu, who turned 22 on Nov. 13, said Nakamura will travel with her most weeks of the year. She hopes the work they do together will help her stay healthier and impose her athleticism on the court.
“I think he’s going to help me just explore how far I can go, athletically,” Raducanu said. The BBC’s Russell Fuller. “I think it’s a great strength of mine that I haven’t fulfilled anywhere. I think I can become one of the best athletes in tennis and I can’t wait to see how much I can do.
“My natural athleticism is something I have to use. I have to improve it, I have to polish it, it’s still pretty raw and I don’t think it’s fully developed, so he’s going to help me explore that.”
