Emma Raducanu has taken another wildcard into the Dubai Tennis Championships this weekend.
The 2021 US Open champion is in the midst of her worst ever run of form having lost her last four matches.
Raducanu has taken the wildcard route into her previous two tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai but neither have proved successful for the Brit having suffered first-round exits in both events.
The losses to Marketa Vondrousova and Ekaterina Alexandrova respectively followed a defeat to Cristina Bucsa in Singapore.
Raducanu began the year with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing by Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open.
The 22-year-old will be joined by mentor Jane O’Donoghue fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura, as was the case in Qatar.
The world No.60 is facing a tough draw in Dubai with it being a WTA 100 event as the world’s top ten players are all scheduled to feature.
The draw takes place on Saturday before the main action gets underway on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Raducanu is still without a coach having parted with Nick Cavaday last month.
Cavaday stepped down from his role due to health reasons and leaving just her mother and Nakamura by her side in Singapore.
One of Raducanu’s youth coaches Roman Kelecic stepped in during her time in Abu Dhabi before O’Donoghue flew out to Doha.
O’Donoghue, who worked with Raducanu at the Lawn Tennis Association as she was national coach for women between 2009 and 2019, has regularly supported Raducanu over the last few years and was part of her team at Wimbledon in 2022.
Serena Wiliiams’ former coach Rick Macci recently identified that a winning mentality is what is preventing Raducanu from reaching the next level.
“The difference between winning/losing/success/failure is a matter of inches. With Emma it is from ear to ear,” he said.
“World class coaching is when to say it,” Macci added in post on X. “How to say it. Why to say it. How loud to say it. And the feeling of taking the temperature.
“BUT most of all the message has to be sprinkled with positivity and belief to add layers of confidence that flows into courage. @EmmaRaducanu.”
