The British No. 1 Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from this month’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals, who will start on September 16 in Shenzhen, China, instead choose to accept a wildcard for the Korea Open in the hope of stimulating its ranking.
I really enjoy working with Francis [Roig]. He is a great person to have on and next to the field. He is talkative and very fun on the field. We laughed a lot, which certainly helps. Emma Raducanu
The 22-year-old made the important switch under the supervision of her new coach, Francisco Roig, only a few days after her 3rd round exit at the US Open, which made a clear shift in her priorities while focusing on building her partnership with Roig and promoting her WTA Tour development.
The move was unexpected and is an important blow to Team Great Britain, after Raducanu was unbeaten in Singles in the Malaga Finals and the impressive run of the team to the semi-final last year.
After having worked for months without a formal coach since splitting with Nick Cavaday in January, Raducanu worked in the summer with former British player Mark Petchey, who came in on an informal basis, before Roig recently joined her coaching team.
The Spanish coach, who played a key role in supervising Rafael Nadal to 22 large titles, made their partnership impressive references after he arrived at Raducanu in Cincinnati last month before supporting her at the US Open.
“I really enjoy working with Francis,” Raducanu said in a recent interview with Sky Sports Tennis. “He is a great person to have on and next to the field.
“He is talkative and very nice outside the field. We laughed a lot, which certainly helps. He is great in having that calm and calmness about him, reassuring that all the work we do from the court does not have to pay immediately, but I know we are working on something and day to day building something.”
While the WTA 500 Korea is approaching, which will start in Seoul on September 15, their collaboration will get its first major test.
Raducanu also participated in Seoul in 2024, reached the last 8 and withdrew against Daria Kasatkina after losing the first set, 6-1, who suffered from foot.
In 2022, the Brit was more advanced, but again, retired mid-match against top seeds Jelena Ostapenko while he dropped 3-0 in the third set.
Kapitein Koothavong was accompanied by Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Harriet Dart, Jodie Burrage and Olivia Nicholls during a press conference in April to discuss their preparations prior to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in September
Lta.org.uk
In the meantime, Lexus Great Britain has announced Billie Jean King Cup team captain, Anne Koothavong, 4 of her possible 8-wife team for the BJK Cup Finals in Shenzhen, including 2 players in the Top 50 in Katie Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Evenly NO JODALLE NOODAL FROCEMAGESCACAGE, JODAL FRANCAGENCARAAL.
Team GB, who reached the semi -final of the Billie Jean King Cup last year, assured their place in the final of this year after beating Germany and the Netherlands in the qualifications in April.
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup team
- Katie Boulter – World no. 41
- Sonay Kartal – World no. 45
- Francesca Jones – World No 89
- Jodie Burrage – World No. 116
The British will play Japan in the quarterfinals on Thursday, September 18 at 10.00 am in the UK, and if they get through this, they will play the winner of the draw between the US US Kazakhstan.
In the meantime, the Japanese team will consist of 4-way Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, Moyuka Uchijima, Ena Shibahara, Eri Hozumi and Shuko Aoyama.
Emma Raducanu enjoys working together with her new coach Francis Roig, can be seen here during a practice session for the US Open
© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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