The 'world-class' fitness coach Emma Raducanu wants to add to her team

2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu recently confirmed that she is in talks with a renowned physical coach to join her team. Sky Sports experts Laura Robson and Tim Henman discussed the Japanese coach in detail, who has already worked with former World No. 1 players.

The coach in question is Yutaka Nakamura, a Japanese fitness trainer who has worked on both the ATP and WTA Tours, as well as in other sports like golf. “We are having discussions. Yeah, we’ll see. I’m looking forward for 2025 regardless,” commented Raducanu during her press conference at the Billie Jean King Cup.

The fitness trainer spent seven years working with former World No. 1 Maria Sharapova and later collaborated with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori, and Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov.

London 2012 silver medallist Laura Robson shared her thoughts on the renowned coach, whom she knows from her time as a player. “Yutaka, who I know pretty well from when he was working with Sharapova and when I used to train in Florida, he was primarily based at the IMG Academy there,” Robson told Sky Sports. “So he’s worked with people like Nelly Korda, even from other sports like golf, and just has a really long history of being world-class.”

“He’s such a nice guy to get along with as well, which is important when you’re on the road so many weeks of the year. If that works out, hopefully it does, because I think that would be a really good addition to the team.”

Tim Henman also shared positive opinions about Raducanu potentially working with Nakamura. “The element that she’s probably struggled the most with is her physical resilience, and we talk about these long seasons and being out there and competing on tour,” he said.

“She’s still trying to build that resilience. She’s had some of those injuries, and when you look at her match count, I think she only played 31 matches on the tour,” he added. “She still finished in the top 60, so if she can compete and play more tournaments, you just feel that there’s going to be more opportunities for her to move in the right direction. So I think in terms of investment, if she could bring on someone like that, it would be really good news.”