Emma Raducanu continues to struggle after crashing out of the Linz Open to 106th-ranked Wang Xinyu 

Emma Raducanu will have a new coach next year — the German who helped turn Angelique Kerber into a three-time Grand Slam champion and world No 1.

Hamburg-based Torben Beltz had a reminder that Raducanu is very much a work in progress on Tuesday night when she was knocked out of the Upper Austrian Ladies Linz, beaten 6-1, 6-7, 7-5 by China’s Xinyu Wang. 

He was not in Linz to watch the match but she confirmed that they will start together after she takes a break at the end of what has been an extraordinary season.

Some hard physical work will be in order, although Raducanu was later keen not to rise to the bait offered by England rugby coach Eddie Jones, who had suggested she might have become distracted by outside opportunities. 

Insisting that she did not know what his comments were about she said: ‘I have my parents, who would 100 per cent let me know if I was getting swayed.’

Emma Raducanu’s struggles continued as she lost to Wang Xinyu in Austria on Tuesday

The US Open champion will have a new coach next year – Hamburg-based Torben Beltz (right)

One of the lessons Raducanu will have learned from the post-US Open period is that players can be expected to lift their games against her. 

As with previous opponents since then, Wang played above herself and looked far better than her ranking of 106. Raducanu revived after an indifferent first set, winning the tie-break to love.

There was plenty of quality in the second and third sets, and the British player fought her way back into the decider when she broke Wang at 4-5, having received treatment at the changeover for a spasm in her hip.

To her credit, the Chinese player ignored that distraction to close it out at the end.

The Brit won the second set on a tie-break but ultimately went on to lose 1-6, 7-6 (0), 5-7

China’s Wang Xinyu was ranked 106th in the world heading into the last-16 match in Linz

Raducanu declared that it would be a ‘privilege’ to work with someone of Beltz’s experience. ‘He is a positive and cheerful guy and that helps when you are on the road,’ she said.

Beltz and Kerber announced an amicable split on Monday after their third spell working together. He will be seen as someone with the know-how to take a promising player and turning them into a consistent top 10 performer.

He knows the workings of the WTA Tour intricately, having first hooked up with Kerber when she was a teenager. 

They worked in three phases and the long-term collaboration, of unusual durability in the women’s game, saw her win the Australian and US Opens in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2018 and become world No 1. Beltz also had a spell working Croatia’s Donna Vekic.

Beltz, pictured at Wimbledon in 2016 (left), will be the man to take Raducanu forward

In the past Raducanu has paired up with numerous coaches but has been without one in particular since unexpectedly not renewing the contract of Andrew Richardson following her startling win at Flushing Meadows in September.

She will play an exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall at the end of this month, and an unofficial event in Abu Dhabi prior to Christmas. 

Andy Murray made the second round of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday night after beating Norwegian qualifier Viktor Durasovic 6-1, 7-6.