Can ex-Kerber coach Torben Beltz refine the jewel Emma Raducanu even further?
Successful trainer Torben Beltz has hired US Open winner and super talent Emma Raducanu after separating from Angelique Kerber.
by SID
last edit: Nov 10, 2021, 03:23 pm
Emma Raducanu quickly countered the pressing questions from the journalists. "Bingo guys, you cracked it," said the 18-year-old with a smile - and solved the riddle about her new trainer. Nobody less than Torben Beltz, the long-time successful coach of Germany's figurehead Angelique Kerber, is to grind the aspiring tennis jewel into a diamond.
For US Open winner Raducanu, Beltz's commitment is "a great privilege". She knows the vita of the 44-year-old: he has accompanied Kerber from the beginning and, with interruptions, shaped her into a world-class athlete over the course of almost two decades. Kerber won two of their three Grand Slam titles under his leadership and jumped to the top of the world rankings. Raducanu also wants to go there.
Raducanu relies on Beltz's experience
"I think that this enormous experience is very helpful for someone as inexperienced as I am," said Raducanu after her knockout round at the WTA tournament in Linz, Austria. Her debut season with the professionals, which she has shot meteorically in the public eye, is now over. The coming year will be tough.
Your new coach, as a "really positive, happy guy", should help me in the stressful day-to-day life of the tour that "I find my way around and feel good," said Raducanu. In comparison to his work with Kerber, Beltz will be in greater demand as a mental support. Because Raducanu is already a star - but still very young.
Osaka as a warning example
With her completely surprising success as a qualifier at the US Open, the teenager is suddenly on everyone's lips, and she recently became a brand ambassador for the luxury fashion brand Dior. But Raducanu also knows about the downside of success: "I think that a lot of people will have an opinion about me and my work."
Naomi Osaka serves as a warning example. The Japanese also triumphed in New York at a young age and has since struggled with the media hype for her person. At the beginning of November, the introverted Osaka (24) returned to the tennis court after two months of self-chosen time off.
Raducanu meets the hype about her person by withdrawing into private life and concentrates "on a small circle around me". Her parents would give her "100 percent notice if I wavered".