Emma Raducanu says she is injury free and feels 'good' after exhibition match
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Emma Raducanu lost 5-7 6-3 (10-8) in an exhibition match with Ons Jabeur on her injury return
Emma Raducanu says she is now injury free and feeling "good" following her exhibition match with Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
The 20-year-old was beaten by Tunisian Jabeur but has been working on her fitness before the 2023 season.
Raducanu announced on Friday she had appointed German Sebastian Sachs, 30, as her new coach.
"Physically, body, injury-wise I'm good now, I'm clear. Touch wood it stays like that," said Raducanu.
Last year's US Open champion will attend the World Cup final between Argentina and France in Doha on Sunday before flying to Singapore to resume her pre-season training.
Raducanu's 2023 tennis campaign starts at the ASB Classic in Auckland on 2 January, before she heads to Melbourne for the Australian Open two weeks later.
She added: "I really worked on my fitness the last two months, less on the tennis court. So I'm just trying to get my feeling on the court."
Raducanu said the match against Jabeur was "pretty positive step in seeing where I'm at and what I can do better".
"I really obviously want to work hard, try to get back on court as much as possible but I could overdo it if I didn't really think it through because I want to be back on court so much," the Briton added.
"I just need to maybe cut down a little bit on the hours sometimes."
One of her "biggest goals" for the season, Raducanu said, was to play freely and "not think" about her fitness.
"I want to be able to go out there and just focus on the tennis," she said. "I think this year I'm in a better position but it's still going to take some time to develop fully.
"I think my goal in 2023 is probably to win a title."
Raducanu also spoke about Sachs, who is her fifth coach in 18 months after Russian Dmitry Tursunov ended their coaching partnership in October.
"We are trialling until the end of the year and just seeing how it goes really," said 76th-ranked Raducanu.
"It's been going well. I've done a week with him so far and I think he's a really calm influence. He's on it, switched on, and yeah, I'm excited to see how it goes."
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