When <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/emma-raducanu/" target="_blank">Emma Raducanu</a> sat down for her media commitments ahead of the start of the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/tennis/2025/02/01/mubadala-abu-dhabi-open-players-schedule-tickets-and-all-you-need-to-know/" target="_blank">Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open</a> on Saturday, the draw ceremony had just concluded moments earlier. The Brit accepted a wildcard entry into the tournament and has been <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/tennis/2025/02/01/marketa-vondrousova-welcomes-tough-opener-against-great-player-emma-raducanu-in-abu-dhabi/" target="_blank">handed a tricky opener</a> against fellow grand slam champion Marketa Vondrousova. As the interview began, Raducanu wasn’t ready to learn her fate just yet, preferring to stay in the dark a little bit longer before she had to worry about plotting for her first-round clash. “I’ve just been face down on the massage table. I’ll figure it out later, I’m half asleep,” Raducanu told <i>The National</i> with a laugh. The 22-year-old is trying to stay in the moment as much as possible, and isn’t even sure if she will be competing in the rest of the Middle East swing, which resumes with a WTA 1000 event in Doha starting February 9, and another 1000-level tournament in Dubai on February 16. “I have no idea. I'm going to take it week by week. See how I am, see how the body is and see what kind of plan we put in place, I guess. But I’m not thinking too far ahead, just trying to take it day by day in the current situations,” she explained. The ‘current situations’ she is referring to is the departure of her coach Nick Cavaday from her team – a decision he has been forced to make for personal health reasons. Cavaday first worked with Raducanu when she was a young player and they reunited ahead of the 2024 campaign, which saw her leap from outside the top 300 to inside the top 60 in the span of nine months. Cavaday’s decision to step down was announced following Raducanu’s third-round <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/tennis/2025/01/18/australian-open-ons-jabeur-out-after-emma-navarro-defeat-while-ruthless-iga-swiatek-smashes-emma-raducanu/" target="_blank">exit at the Australian Open</a> just over a week ago. “It's difficult. Nick is a great person. He's someone I've known since I was a young girl, and he coached me before, so I think we were working really well together,” Raducanu said on Saturday. “Unfortunately, he had to prioritise his health, which I completely understand, and I support him, and I just wish him the speediest of recoveries.” Raducanu is in no rush to find Cavaday’s replacement and came to Abu Dhabi with her fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura. She also has in her corner this week Roman Kelecic, who coached her during her ITF junior days and made the drive over from Dubai when she reached out to him ahead of the Abu Dhabi Open. “He travelled with me when I was like 14,15, in the junior ITFs; we went to all the glamorous places together when we were younger in the juniors,” said Raducanu. “And we haven't honestly seen each other in so many years. But he's based out of Dubai, and I think in this situation, I mean, I wanted to see him anyway, to catch up. So I texted him to catch up, and now he's on court with me, so he's going to help me out this week.” Raducanu isn’t clear on what she’ll be looking for in her next coach but she says “it’s a decision that I want to take my time with”. “I think that's why I haven't necessarily jumped into something straight away, because I want to make sure it's a right fit,” added the world No 56. “And I think this period where I don't necessarily have someone is going to tell me a lot. It's going to teach me a lot, what I want, what I don't want to look for in the next person. “So I think I'm using this time period to just figure out what I really value. I'm not too sure yet right now. I haven't come to any plans or decisions. So yeah, I'm just taking it, using the next couple weeks to see how I feel, and then make a decision.” Raducanu exploded on to the scene when she became the first qualifier in tennis history to win a grand slam at the 2021 US Open. She was just 18 years old with limited experience at the professional level. Injuries that required multiple surgeries, coaching changes, and adjusting to life on tour, have affected her progress; all while dealing with her overnight stardom and the intense fanfare – and scrutiny – that comes with it. She told reporters in Australia she was adamant on cutting out all the noise this season. “Anything that’s not necessarily serving me, I’m just pretty savage in terms of just prioritising myself and focusing,” she said in Melbourne. In Abu Dhabi on Saturday, she elaborated on her approach, explaining how finding time for herself has been key. “I think it was just about my time. I think last year it was a difficult year for me in terms of missing the second half of the year due to injury. And I think I just had a lot of time to think and reflect in that period,” she said. “I think I just had to make some really difficult decisions. Some decisions that internally, you kind of toil with, you know emotionally you're attached to, and I think that I wasn't necessarily being able to do the best things for myself. “Like I wouldn't have loads of time to read like I am now, spend a lot of time alone. And I think that's just something that I've started doing a lot more of. “I think this year, I've gone on loads of solo walks, solo coffee dates and just have a lot of time to kind of look inside and look internally. I've been enjoying it so far, even though it's not necessarily the easiest thing to do, especially when the tour is quite a lonely place.” Her book of choice at the moment? <i>Emma </i>by Jane Austen, an author she got hooked on when she read <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> for her GSCEs. “And I annotated that book until there was no space left on the pages,” she recalls. “I'm reading <i>Emma</i>, but reading it for pleasure. It's not the easiest to read sometimes, but I think it's a great story. And of course, with the name, I just had to go for it.” As an enthusiastic foodie, Raducanu has been enjoying Lebanese and other Middle Eastern cuisine during her time in Abu Dhabi – think lamb koftas and hummus – and she’s hoping she sticks around longer to sample more options. She says she’s physically “okay” at the moment with no pressing niggles or injuries “for now”. “I've not really played on the tour like this – even the practice days, I think when I don't have a coach right now, it's just a lot of points, which is great. It's exactly what I need. "But I think in the conditions, when it's a little bit windy as well, you're reaching for balls, you're not necessarily in the best position or hitting the cleanest shots, so I’m just managing the body,” she added. “But there's no issues, there's no niggles as of now, and that's something I'm very grateful for and happy. Because I don't think last year I would have been able to do what I am right now.”