Emma Raducanu has confirmed she is in talks with an esteemed fitness coach ahead of her return to action at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. 

The 2021 US Open winner revealed she is “ready to commit” to improving physically as she admitted her athleticism is “nowhere near its full potential.”

Raducanu is set to feature in Great Britain’s tie against Germany in the first knockout round of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals on Friday. The start of the event was rescheduled from Wednesday to Thursday due to heavy rain and flooding in Malaga.

The British star has not played a match since spraining ligaments in her foot in her quarter-final match with Daria Kasatkina at the Korea Open almost two months ago.

The 22-year-old subsequently pulled out of five WTA Tour events during the Asian swing — Beijing, Wuhan, Ningbo, Guangzhou and Hong Kong — due to the injury.

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Speaking ahead of Great Britain’s clash with Germany, Raducanu confirmed she is looking to hire Yutaka Nakamura, a fitness trainer who previously worked with Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka.

“I think my goal next year is to stay on court longer,” Raducanu told the media in Malaga.

“This year I came to top 60 in the world, but I played I think less than 15 events. I know if I’m on court and healthy and competing, I can go even higher and further.

“I think that my athleticism is a strength of mine, but it’s nowhere near its full potential. I’m just looking forward to exploring that further, and ready to commit to doing that.

“While it’s the end of the season for a lot of players, I feel I’m just beginning to kick-start and get things in motion, training really well, training hard, and already building towards next year. I’m not really looking to have any more time off.

“I’m just looking forward to competing here this week and taking however this goes and improving on it for next year.”

With teams unable to practise in Malaga on Wednesday as the venue was closed due to flooding, Raducanu revealed how she spent her 22nd birthday.

“I’m really grateful that my team, they made a really big effort yesterday to make me feel really special,” the world No 58 said. “There was birthday banners, cake, balloons.

“It was really nice, considering the weather. We couldn’t really go out or do anything, but it’s just how it goes. Even though those were the conditions, I still had a great time. It was very memorable.”

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