EMMA RADUCANU says her coaching dilemma will be soon resolved – but she also needs to learn to coach HERSELF on court.
The reigning US Open champion will play Slovenian Polona Hercog tomorrow in the first round of the Transylvanian Open in Romania.
The identity of the man in her corner for the 2022 season has provoked plenty of speculation and debate in tennis circles.
SunSport reported this week that ex-British No1 Greg Rusedski has encouraged her to find a full-time mentor and not chop and change her staff.
Her small entourage in Cluj-Napoca includes physio Will, dad Ian and agent Chris but not Spaniard Esteban Carril, who had been linked to a possible full-time position.
Instead, Raducanu has revealed that she held trials with other suitable tutors in the past week in London as she searches for the right individual.
But more importantly, she feels she has to learn to be self-sufficient when working out how to beat the world’s top stars.
Raducanu, 18, who worked with different coaches at Wimbledon and the US Open, said: “I think having a coach is great. But once again you are on your own on the court.
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“I don’t think it is great to be dependant. You need to coach yourself. That is something I am learning.
“Part of the experience I am having is being able to learn to coach myself.
“Sometimes it won’t always work, like in Indian Wells, but in the long-term if I keep doing that then I will be better in the situations in the future.
“I had a couple of trials this last week. I had a trial with Esteban. But I also had trials with others.
“Yeah, I am feeling optimistic about trying to have something in place for the off-season and the Australian Open.
“No, I haven’t decided on the coach. But things are moving forward.”
In her second tournament since the New York fairy tale, Raducanu was given a hero’s welcome as she practised yesterday on Romanian soil.
To further enhance her status here, she spoke the language to the adoring crowd via microphone after the training session had ended.
‘LOVE COMING BACK’
Unfortunately her 88-year-old paternal grandmother Mamiya was unable to make the 300-mile round trip to Cluj-Napoca.
But the Kent ace plans to make an emotional homecoming once this tournament is over – and taste some of that lovely local delicacy of mincemeat wrapped in cabbage.
Raducanu said: “I love Romania. I used to come once or twice a year to visit my grandmother, who lives in Bucharest, while growing up. It is an hour’s flight from here.
“When the tournament is done, I’d love to pop over to Bucharest to be able to visit her. I haven’t seen her for two-and-a-half years.
“The welcome I got was really, really nice and I always love coming back.
“The people here are really friendly, great humour and good food. I have great memories from this country. It is really nice to be back.
“The thing is I can understand like 80 per cent of Romanian. I don’t want to big myself up.
“I just really struggle to find my words and vocab. When I got told about this thing at the end of the session, and I would be speaking to the crowd, I was thinking of my vocab at the changeovers.
“The more I spend time here, the more I immerse myself in the language, and I can pick it up reasonably fast.”
