Emma's striving to close the gap

RADUCANU SAYS COACH COULD BE MISSING LINK

- From Neil McLeman in New York

EMMA RADUCANU is learning Spanish, football, golf and a backhand slice from her new coach.

The British No.1 also wants Francis Roig to teach her how to beat the big players in Grand Slam tournaments, starting with Elena Rybakina, below, at the US Open today.

She lost her previous encounter with 2022 Wimbledon winner Rybakina 6-0 6-1 at the Sydney Classic earlier that year. But Raducanu was competitive against Aryna Sabalenka at SW19.

After appointing Rafa Nadal’s former coach Roig for the US hard-court season, she took a set off world No.1 Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Masters earlier this month but lost in two tiebreaks.