US Open champion Emma Raducanu set to announce German Torben Beltz as new coach

Emma Raducanu’s new coach will be Angelique Kerber’s long-time mentor Torben Beltz, the PA news agency understands.

The US Open champion has been searching for a coach to guide her through her first full season on the WTA Tour next year since deciding not to extend a short-term partnership with Andrew Richardson following her stunning New York triumph.

That was a surprise to many within tennis but Raducanu highlighted the need to have someone experienced in the women’s game beside her and she will certainly have that in 44-year-old German Beltz.

Spaniard Esteban Carril was the only name that emerged publicly from a series of trials Raducanu held with coaches last month but, as first reported by the Daily Telegraph, a picture of Raducanu with Beltz and her agent Chris Helliar at a cafe in Orpington was posted on an Instagram fan page.

And PA has learned it is the German, described as a gentle giant, who will link up with Raducanu as she prepares for the start of the 2022 season.

Beltz was Kerber’s coach for a decade from her first steps on the professional tour, helping her reach the top 10 before they split for the first time in 2013.

But it was not long before they were reunited and Beltz was by Kerber’s side for the best campaign of her career in 2016, when she won grand slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open, reached the Wimbledon final, claimed an Olympic silver medal and became world number one.

They split again at the end of 2017, with Kerber hiring Wim Fissette and winning a first Wimbledon title the following year, while Beltz began working with Croatian Donna Vekic and helped her break into the top 20 for the first time.

That association ended, somewhat acrimoniously, last summer, with Beltz returning to work alongside Kerber for a third time.

The German’s career appeared to be on the wane but Kerber has been resurgent this season, reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals and briefly returning to the top 10.

The 33-year-old revealed on Monday that she has again parted ways with Beltz, paving the way for him to begin work with Raducanu.

The Kent teenager gave a cryptic update on her coaching search on Sunday, saying: “I’m in a very good position. It’s just a bit confidential. It’s my decision. It’s not fully done.”

She is again coaching herself at this week’s Upper Austria Ladies Linz, where she is the top seed and will play Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu in her first match on Tuesday evening.

Kerber has described Beltz as “the most positive person I know” and he is known as a compassionate and likeable presence on the WTA Tour, someone who will put an arm around his player rather than a hard taskmaster.

An all-round sports fan, the father of two shares Raducanu’s passion for analysing matches and also puts a lot of emphasis on physical work, which the British number one has highlighted as the key area she needs to improve.