Emma Raducanu is working with a new coach as she heads towards the 2023 season, reports said on Friday.
The 2021 US Open winner, who turned 20 in November, has had a growing list of coaches and is seeking the right formula to make an alliance successful.
She has turned for now to German Sebastian Sachs, a 30-year-old who previously worked with Victoria Azarenka, as a member of the Belarusian's team, before becoming the main coach of Julia Goerges and latterly Belinda Bencic.
Olympic champion Bencic recently appointed Dmitry Tursunov, who had been working with Raducanu, and Sachs has headed in the opposite direction by joining up with the British youngster.
As well as Russian former ATP top-20 player Tursunov, Raducanu has had coaching spells under the tutelage of Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and the Lawn Tennis Association's Iain Bates in the past two years.
Raducanu and her team have yet to formally announce Sachs' role, but reports have indicated he has been with her this week in Abu Dhabi. Her management have yet to confirm whether this is a trial or a full-time appointment.
The one-time grand slam winner had a match on Friday against Ons Jabeur at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition event, losing 5-7 6-3 10-8 to the 2022 Wimbledon and US Open runner-up.
After parting company with Raducanu, Tursunov said getting the best out of the Briton would be "minimum a one-year project but... probably a two-and-a-half-year project to be on the safe side", and reasoned that her game remained "very raw".
"It's going to take some time, but as I said to her and to pretty much everyone on her team: I think you just need to have one voice and just try that for a bit," Tursunov said.
Raducanu has not reached a final since her dazzling Flushing Meadows victory, and she finished the 2022 season at 76th in the WTA rankings.
Alcaraz begins Madrid Open campaign with emphatic win
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine record at the Madrid Open with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko on Friday.
The two-time defending champion made it 12 straight wins at his home tournament to ensure he will face Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the last 32.
Alcaraz was playing his first match on the ATP Tour since March 28 after being unable to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to an arm injury.
But he was still able to make a fine start to his clay-court season, breaking serve in the first game and racing to victory in only one hour and eight minutes.
Data Debrief
Sometimes the scoreline can be harsh on a beaten player, but on this occasion Alcaraz was clearly dominant, breaking the Kazakh seven times in the match and forcing 11 break-point opportunities while conceding only three for his opponent.
That allowed the Spaniard to claim a dominant victory despite being broken once in each set. He will now turn his attention to a clash with Seyboth Wild, who battled past Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-4 6-4 win.
Reigning champion Sabalenka pushed by Linette at Madrid Open
Aryna Sabalenka got her Madrid Open campaign started with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over Magda Linette on Friday.
Sabalenka could not quite hit her peak form against Linette, but the world number two nevertheless got the job done after going the distance.
The Belarusian is hunting a record-equalling third title in Madrid, where she is the reigning champion, though she has not won back-to-back matches at a tournament since winning the Australian Open.
"It's not about being confident," Sabalenka said. "It's about how much you're ready to do to get it. It's about the hard work and to be ready, be ready for the big fights. I feel like confidence is not going to help you in those big matches. It's about staying there and fighting for it."
Data Debrief
Sabalenka (70 per cent, 56-24) is now one of five active players since 2020 to hold a winning percentage of 70 per cent or higher at WTA-1000 events.
Iga Swiatek, Simona Halep, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula are the other players to feature on that list.
Rybakina continues clay winning streak with victory over Bronzetti
In-form Elena Rybakina has moved into the last 32 of the Madrid Open after a straight sets victory over Italian Lucia Bronzetti.
Number four seed Rybakina triumphed 6-4 6-3 on Friday and will next face either Marta Kostyuk or Mayar Sherif.
Rybakina was broken early in each set but ultimately had few problems getting over the line, converting four of her five break points to continue an impressive run of results after winning the Stuttgart Open last week.
She has now won five consecutive WTA matches and has 13 straight wins on clay courts to her name in a superb streak that started one year ago.
Data Debrief: Rybakina in elite company
Since the start of 2020, only two other players have claimed as many 13 consecutive WTA wins on clay, and they are Iga Swiatek and Simona Halep, so Rybakina is in elite company.
Rybakina's last defeat on this surface came in the 2023 edition of the Madrid Open, when she fell to Anna Kalinskaya in her first match, so this win represented a better start to her campaign in the Spanish capital.
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