EMMA RADUCANU is working with coach Vlado Platenik on a trial basis.
The British star, 22, is playing at Indian Wells this week in her first event since her Dubai stalker hell.
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Raducanu has been without a permanent coach since Nick Cavaday stepped away for health reasons earlier this year.
She has since worked with a series of her childhood coaches on a temporary basis, including Jane O’Donoghue and Roman Kelecic.
The former U.S. Open champion is now working with experienced Platenik at Indian Wells.
Platenik has worked with several WTA stars, including the likes of Daria Kasatkina, Dominika Cibulkova and Veronika Kudermetova.
The 49-year-old was also in Lulu Sun’s corner as the Kiwi pulled off a shock win over Raducanu in the Wimbledon fourth round last summer.
Under Platenik’s tutelage, Sun was named the WTA’s Newcomer of the Year for 2024.
Raducanu has also been working with interim coach Tom Welsh at Indian Wells.
The Brit previously worked with Leylah Fernandez, the player that Raducanu defeated in the 2021 U.S. Open final.
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Fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura, previously part of Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka’s teams, is also part of Raducanu’s coaching set-up in Indian Wells.
Raducanu is set to play her round one match against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima later today.
The match will be her first since bowing out to Karolina Muchova in Dubai.
On that occasion, Raducanu burst into tears on court and hid behind the umpire’s chair after seeing her stalker in the crowd.
The man, displaying “fixated behaviour”, was subsequently ejected and arrested by police, although charges were dropped after he signed a restraining order.
On the ordeal, Raducanu said upon arriving in California: “I was obviously very distraught, like I saw him first game of the match, and I was like, I don’t know how I’m going to finish.
“I literally couldn’t see the ball through the tears. I could barely breathe, like I was playing Karolina who’s, like, top 17 in the world or something. I can’t see the ball.”
Should Raducanu beat Uchijima, she will set up an eye-catching second round clash with Coco Gauff.
