Emma Raducanu is likely to turn to a name from her younger days to assist her when she comes back in the new year after nearly eight months away from the game. The former US Open champion has been working with Nick Cavaday as she prepares to leave for her comeback tournaments, which will see her play in New Zealand ahead of the Australian Open.
Earlier this year Cavaday left his position as head of the Loughborough junior academy run by the Lawn Tennis Association, and more lately he has done some more work with promising GB junior Ranah Stoiber.
Cavaday coached Raducanu at the Bromley tennis academy during her developmental years
He also had some time on the men’s tour with the briefly British Slovenian Aljaz Bedene and now retired Davis Cup doubles player Dom Inglot, but his connection with Raducanu goes back to their shared Kent roots. Both Cavaday and his sister – Naomi, a former top 200 singles player – did work with her at the Bromley tennis academy during her developmental years and, crucially in this case, they have a longstanding relationship with her father Ian.
The lifespan of a coach for Raducanu is notoriously short, and after her injuries she split this summer with German Sebastian Sachs, with whom she got on with but who was the latest to struggle with what he saw as parental interference. Raducanu’s management would not comment on the potential involvement of Cavaday, but at this late stage before the first tournament of next season it seems likely that he will spend at least the next month with her.
Raducanu has gone through five coaches in two years, which includes Sebastian Sachs who she split with in June
The lifespan of a coach for Raducanu is notoriously short, and after her injuries she split this summer with German Sebastian Sachs, with whom she got on with but who was the latest to struggle with what he saw as parental interference. Raducanu’s management would not comment on the potential involvement of Cavaday, but at this late stage before the first tournament of next season it seems likely that he will spend at least the next month with her.
