Emma Raducanu is expected to make another change to her coaching arrangements with childhood mentor Nick Cavaday on duty at the Australian Open.
He is believed to have flown out to Melbourne to meet up with the 2021 US Open champion, who has elected to play an exhibition event in the suburb of Kooyong next week, rather than an official WTA event.
Cavaday, also from Kent, coached Raducanu as a young teenager and did some work with her at Roehampton’s National Tennis Centre before Christmas.
Raducanu was supported by Jane O’Donoghue, who formerly worked at the LTA, during her encouraging showing in Auckland this week, which saw her come close to beating Elina Svitolina.
However, indicative of Raducanu’s fluid arrangements, it is unclear whether O’Donoghue — a former GB player and coach who now has a career in finance — will be able to stay on for the Australian Open.
A likely opponent for Raducanu in the low-key Kooyong Classic is the outstanding 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva, with the matches due to begin on Wednesday.
Harriet Dart is another Brit who has made a heartening start to the season, and this morning she was due to play in the final of the £100,000 Challenger tournament in Canberra, against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz.
Rafael Nadal needed to take a medical timeout for treatment around the groin area as he missed three match points before losing in the quarter-finals of the Brisbane International to Aussie Jordan Thompson.
Leave a Reply