Emma Raducanu has split with her coach, Sebastian Sachs, as she recovers from recent surgery on her wrists and ankle. The 2021 US Open champion is currently sidelined and could miss most of the season following the surgery, making it “unfeasible” for Raducanu to continue working with the German former player, whom she appointed in December of last year.
Raducanu tweeted: “I have really enjoyed Seb’s coaching and working with him, it’s unfortunate that circumstances made it unfeasible for both of us to continue right now and we have decided to part ways. I wish Seb all the best moving forwards.”
Sachs was Raducanu’s fifth coach in two years, after Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and Dmitry Tursunov. The 31-year-old, who coached the Swiss player Belinda Bencic to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, worked with Raducanu at the Australian Open in January.
The 20-year-old had spoken about hoping to forge a long-term link with Sachs in Melbourne, saying: “I really like Seb, I think that we’ve been doing some great work. He’s very objective and really experienced, actually. I just love the way that we’re working together and I really hope it lasts.”
Raducanu’s team have said the split was a mutual decision, with the British No 1 unable to do any work on court for several months, and that the pair have a great relationship.
The process of looking for Sachs’ successor has not yet begun, with Raducanu yet to give any timeline on when she can return to tennis. She has already ruled herself out of Wimbledon and appears unlikely to be fit in time for the US Open, which starts in late August.