Andy Murray could hire former Jo Konta’s coach to join his staff AFTER US Open champion Emma Raducanu passed on him
The late season coaching merry-go-round in tennis is starting to fire up with Andy Murray summoning some new help to Stockholm.
Murray’s likely last event of the year will see him have a trial with Spaniard Esteban Carril, who recently did a short audition with Emma Raducanu.
The prospect of him working with the US Open champion now looks to have gone, and if it goes well with Murray in Sweden he is expected to join existing coach Jamie Delgado in trying to revive the 34-year-old Scot’s career in 2021.
Andy Murray could hire Esteban Carril to join his coaching staff this month
The Scot will have a trial with Carrill at an upcoming ATP event in Stockholm this week
Murray faces Norway’s Viktor Durasovic in the opening round on Monday
Murray faces Norway’s Viktor Durasovic in the opening round.
Carril, who helped turn Jo Konta into a world-class performer, was in Estonia this week with another British player, Katie Swan, who yesterday won the $25,000 title there.
Swan said afterwards that their time together had come to an end.
Jo Konta’s former mentor Esteban Carril (right) had been working with Katie Swan
He enjoys an excellent reputation in the game, but Raducanu has chosen to pass on him as she also prepares to play a final tournament of the year this week.
The Kent teenager is in Linz where she is the top seed for the Upper Austria Ladies Open.
After a bye in the first round she will tackle one of two qualifiers, Ukraine’s Kateryna Kozlova or China’s Xinyu Wang.
For her third straight tournament she will have no official coach with her, although she has identified someone she wants to work with at the Australian Open in January.
Emma Raducanu had considered hiring Carril last month but decided to pass on him instead
The US open champion will again be her own coach this week at a WTA event in Linz
‘I’m here on my own and being my coach again this week, which I think is really good for me long-term,’ she said.
‘I’m really feeling positive about my coaching situation. I’m going to have someone in place and I’m really excited to get some good work done in preseason.’
Raducanu also revealed that she had been feeling unwell after the Transylvania Open and needed to take several days off, although a series of tests showed it not to be Covid-related.
‘I wasn’t feeling so good but now I’m in a much better place and feeling positive,’ she said.
Novak Djokovic celebrated becoming the year-end world No 1 for a record seventh time
Novak Djokovic yesterday celebrated becoming the year-end world No 1 for a record seventh time by taking the indoor Paris Open title after a repeat of the US Open final.
This time the 34-year-old Serb got the better of Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, having confirmed on Saturday that he had overtaken Pete Sampras as the player to have finished a season most often at the peak of the rankings.
It was also a record 37th Masters level title, exceeding the tally of Rafael Nadal.
The Serb won the Paris Open after beating Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final
Djokovic has now won a record 37 Masters level title, exceeding the tally of Rafael Nadal
In a battle between the world’s two best hard court players he hung in the match far more determinedly than in New York, watched by his two young children courtside.
‘I felt more relaxed today, less pressure, maybe play the style of tennis I want to play. I felt a huge relief clinching the No 1 yesterday,’ he said.
Next week he will head the field the ATP Finals, which have moved from London to Turin.