Emma Raducanu: Give new coach Sebastian Sachs time as fifth coach in 18 months, says Barbara Rittner

Former world No 24 Barbara Rittner has described Emma Raducanu’s new interim coach Sebastian Sachs as a “pretty down-to-earth guy” and has advised the British Grand Slam winner to give him time.

Raducanu has cycled through a number of coaches since she burst onto the scene in 2021 with a fourth round finish at Wimbledon and an outstanding victory in the same year’s US Open in New York.

Reports last week confirmed that Sachs had start to work with Raducanu, but is doing so on a trial basis for the rest of 2022.

“He’s a really calm influence. He’s on it, switched on, and yeah, I’m excited to see how it goes,” Raducanu said.

Sachs has previously work with Rittner, as well as Belinda Bencic, Victoria Azarenka and others including Julia Goerges.

“It turned out to be perfect. He was a very talented junior who had never been on the main tour, so if you told him ‘okay, play as well as you can’, they wouldn’t stand a chance. But he could find the right range for each player to make it a close game.”

She continued: “Basti is a pretty down-to-earth guy. He really liked all the girls. He has a good eye for footwork and technique together. And for his young age, he already has a lot of experience. It’s very demanding to keep the focus and I think it’s a great choice for Emma.

“I hope he gets a little more time than the other coaches. And because also I think Torben Beltz [another of Raducanu’s coaches] who was doing a good job. Emma just needs to focus maybe more on tennis and just stick to one coach.”

Raducanu has had four other coaches in the last year and a half: Dmitry Tursunov, Beltz, Andrew Richardson and Nigel Sears.

Andrea Petkovic worked with Sachs and also cautioned that he should be given time..

“It’s really important to have a coach that can also play with you,” she said. “First of all, it helps the coach to get a better feel for your game and where you can improve. And then, if you are out of rhythm, it’s nice to have somebody that is on your team and on your side to hit with you.

“I think is great with Basti is that he’s a very earnest person, very ambitious and very diligent.

“He really improves as a coach all the time. You can see that he’s gained quality and gained some experience on tour, and I think he really knows what he’s doing.

“He’s a very amicable guy, so you get along with him very easily. That’s a huge thing that people sometimes forget, but it plays a big part in coaching and tennis. You spend so much time together and far away from home under high-pressure situations.”