After Emma Raducanu loses in Austria & confirms Torben Beltz as new coach
Raducanu, 18, lost 6-1 6-7 (0-7) 7-5 to China's Wang Xinyu before confirming Torben Beltz will be her new coach. Wang, 20, played at a higher level than her world ranking of 106 as Raducanu, the top seed in the event, suffered a second straight defeat.
The British number one was hampered by an injury near the end of a tight decider. Having received a first-round bye in Linz, Raducanu had not played a match since losing 6-1 6-2 against Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in the Transylvanian Open on 29 October.
Since that defeat in Romania, she has also struggled with illness." Considering the last week I've had, I'm very proud of myself," said Raducanu, who climbed into the world's top 20 for the first time on Monday."I thought it was a high-level match."
Beltz, a 44-year-old German who used to coach former world number one Angelique Kerber, is not in Austria with Raducanu this week. He will start working with the teenager when she begins pre-season training at the end of the month.
Beltz has a strong pedigree, having coached Kerber when she won the Australian Open and US Open titles in 2016. They reunited for this season, but Kerber announced on Monday they would not be working together in 2022.
"It's a great privilege to be working with such an experienced coach - I'm very excited to work with him throughout the pre-season and into next year," said Raducanu."Things are looking up, it's a very positive feeling, and I'm excited about all the work that is to come."
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