Emma Raducanu confirms Torben Beltz as new coach with ‘experience’ and ‘energy’ to help young Brit’s game

WTA Upper Austria Ladies Linz - Day 4
Getty Images for matchmaker
Marc Mayo9 November 2021

Torben Beltz has been hired as Emma Raducanu’s new coach with the teenager describing her optimism at working under the German next season.

The British No1’s stunning year came to a close on Tuesday as she suffered a first-round defeat at the Linz Open, falling 6-1, 6-7 (0-7), 7-5 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu.

Coaching herself in Austria, much of the pre-game talk was dedicated to Beltz’s expected appointment. The 44-year-old has trained Angelique Kerber for long spells of her career, including her 2016 Australian Open and US Open wins.

Raducanu told reporters: “You guys cracked it. It’s obviously a great privilege to be working with such an experienced coach.

“I’m definitely very excited to work with him throughout the pre-season and into next year. I’m feeling excited about all the work that is to come.

“I think he brings a lot of experience. Obviously he’s worked with Kerber, who’s such a great player and has done extremely well, winning three slams.

“I think that experience definitely helps with someone as inexperienced as me.

“He can help guide me through, which I feel really confident about, and also he’s a really positive, cheerful guy who brings great energy to the team so I think that’s also important when you’re travelling on the road for quite a long time on the tour.”

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Beltz’s appointment ends a period of transition for the US Open winner, Raducanu having split from coach Andrew Richardson following her breakout triumph.

Since then, the 18-year-old has struggled to rack up the wins but was satisfied with her performance in Linz, which ended after an injury scare in the third set.

“I thought it was a really high level match,” noted Raducanu. “I thought Xinyu played extremely well, especially in that first set, and I’m proud of the way I fought to try to get back into the match.

“Everything was going her way and she was playing extremely well so a lot of credit to her for keeping that level out there on the court.

“In the third I had a hip spasm in the first point of that game and from there I was just fighting to try to stay in it.”

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