Yutaka Nakamura seems to be absolutely enjoying working with Emma Raducanu as the strength and conditioning coach has described the 22-year-old as someone who is very pleasant to be around.
In case you missed it, the 2021 US Open champion confirmed late last week that she added Maria Sharapova’s ex-fitness coach to her team.
After battling a few niggles earlier in the year, the British tennis star sustained her most serious injury of the season in mid-October when she sprained ligaments in her foot while competing at the WTA 500 tournament in Seoul. While she was out for the next two months, reports started to emerge that she was looking to hire a big-time strength and conditioning coach.
Ultimately, it happened. In his profession, Nakamura is regarded as one of the best on the Tour, having worked with Sharapova for six years. Also, he collaborated with four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.
“She (Emma) is a lovely person, a really good person,” the 52-year-old told Sky Sports’ Gigi Salmon.
Yutaka Nakamura© YouTube screenshot
How Raducanu feels about Nakamura?
Before the two agreed on a partnership, they spent some time together to see how it could possibly look. And since their trial period that came before the Billie Jean King Cup Finals was a success, the former world No. 10 didn’t have to think much about what should be her next step.
When announcing Nakamura as her new team member, Raducanu said that they had a similar work ethic and attitude toward certain things.
“He’s going to be with me a lot next year. I am really looking forward to it. I think it’s nice because as a person, I think we’re quite similar in the sense that we’re very focused with our work. When we work, we’re not like talking or chit-chatting about other things. It’s very much like this is our time to focus,” the current world No. 57 told British reporters at the National Tennis Centre in London.
Emma Raducanu© LTA/Instagram – Fair Use
Raducanu is hoping Nakamura can lead her to the Promised Land
It is not a secret that the British tennis star hasn’t been one of the strongest players on the WTA Tour over the last couple of years. That was especially the case during the 2022 and 2023 seasons, when she dealt with several injuries – some of them were pretty serious – and it all resulted in her having surgeries to both wrists and her foot.
However, Raducanu still believes that she has the potential to be “one of the best athletes” on the WTA Tour. And she hired Nakamura because she hopes he can help her achieve that.
“I think he is going to help me just really explore how far I can go, like athletically. I think 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,” she claimed.
After missing action for two months, Raducanu made a comeback in mid-November during the BJK Cup Finals action. In Malaga, she won all of her three singles matches before Great Britain ultimately fell short to Slovakia in the semifinal.
“I feel really strong. I feel really fit. The only thing I can’t really speak for, is I haven’t played that many matches. On the training court I feel amazing, I’m throwing myself around, but it’s different playing matches. I played a few at Fed Cup [now the Billie Jean King Cup], and 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 [matches] back-to-back, how I’m going to react,” the 2021 US Open champion said.
This Thursday, Raducanu will fly to Australia. In Brisbane, she will team up with fellow WTA player and good friend Priscilla Hon for practice before she heads to New Zealand around Christmas for her first tournament of the year.
“We’re going to hit, hang out there, get in the heat. I didn’t want to go straight to Auckland because if you get to a tournament too early, you kind of get a bit stale before the match. So I wanted to go there when it’s tournament time,” she revealed last week.
Raducanu’s 2025 season will officially start at the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland, which kicks off on December 30th.
Tennis World USA