Emma Raducanu has started a trial period with Slovakian coach Vladimir Platenik ahead of her return to action at Indian Wells on Thursday for the first time since her stalker ordeal in Dubai.
Raducanu will team up with a new coach for the first time since Nick Cavaday stood down for health reasons following the Australian Open in January, where the Briton was heavily beaten by Iga Swiatek in the third round.
Platenik will join Raducanu for her first-round match against Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima at the BNP Paribas Open, with the winner facing third seed Coco Gauff.
The 49-year-old also coached New Zealand’s Lulu Sun throughout her run to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon last year, when she beat Raducanu in the fourth round, and has also worked with Dominika Cibulkova, Daria Kasatkina and Veronika Kudermetova.
Raducanu has earned just one victory since Cavaday’s departure, beating Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the last-64 in Dubai, and will be hoping to pick up another win in California.
The 2021 US Open winner will play for the first time since dealing with a stalker at the Dubai Open last month.
The 22-year-old was left cowering behind the umpire’s chair in tears after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a “fixated” man before and during her second-round match against Karolina Muchova.
