Within the past week London’s Emma Raducanu has gone from a relatively unknown name in tennis to being on the front pages of British newspapers following her dream run at Wimbledon.
The 18-year-old only managed to play in the tournament thanks to a wildcard and had only played a Tour-level event once before, which was last month. Despite her lack of experience, Raducanu has stunned the sport by reaching the fourth round just weeks after completing her A-Level examinations.
The Rising star is currently coached by Nigel Sears, who has worked with the likes of Ana Ivanovic and is the father-in-law of Andy Murray. There is now a growing sense of hope that Raducanu has all the skills to become the next star of British tennis. Amid all the excitement, here are five things to know about the youngster.
1.Journey into tennis
Impressively, tennis was one of a handful of sports Raducanu tried as a child. She also gave a shot at skiing, horse riding, golf, ballet and event motocross. However, tennis was the sport which she stuck to.
She first took up tennis at the age of 5 when she played at the Bromley Tennis Academy. Raducanu says her pathway into the sport was aided by her parents who both pushed her to do well.
“They have been very tough on me as a kid,” she said.
They have been pushy to an extent, not just in tennis but in everything. I think that I’ve developed that mentality since a young age.
“My mum’s side of the family, when I go over to China, they are so mentally resilient. It’s like nothing can bring them down. I would say I take a big part of my inspiration from her. My mum has worked very hard.”
2.Her idols
The teenager says she is an ‘admirer’ of Simona Halep’s game and movement on the Tour. The Romanian is the reigning Wimbledon champion but has been forced to withdraw from this year’s tournament due to injury. Halep is a former world No.1 and has won 22 WTA trophies so far in her career.
“I definitely admire her movement and also just the way that she fights and competes. I think that today in some of the situations in the first set, they were very tight,” Raducanu said following her first round win.
“I was just thinking to compete like some of the players like Halep. She won Wimbledon and she said herself that she wasn’t expecting to.’
“It shows if you put your mind and heart to it, you can really achieve anything. Yeah, I would definitely admire her fight as well about her.”
Another player who she models her game on is that of China’s Li Na who was Asia’s first ever Grand Slam champion back in 2011 and is credited for triggering a surge of interest in the sport back in her home country.
“Li Na – I’m a massive fan of her game. She’s got such powerful strokes. She went for everything and also she was very athletic in a more aggressive way. I loved her mentality, she never complained. That’s something I aspire to be like.” She told The LTA in July 2020.
Coincidentally Raducanu has Romanian and Chinese heritage but says the reason why she idolises those two players has nothing to do with that. Her mother Renee is Chinese and her father Ian is Romanian. Although she was born in Canada and moved to London at the age of two.
3.Junior career
The youngster has already shown promise on the junior Tour where she peaked at a ranking high of 20th in the world in 2018. During 2019 she reached the quarter-finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open in the girls’ tournament. She also reached the semi-finals of a Grade 1 event in Traralgon, Australia before losing to Denmark’s Clara Tauson.
According to the ITF, she has won three Grade 2 titles, one Grade 3, two Grade 4 and one Grade 5. The junior circuit has six tournament levels – from JA (which includes the junior Grand Slams) through to J1, J2, J3, J4 and J5 (the lowest grade).
junior titles won
- 2018 – Siauliai Open 2018 (G2), Biotehnos Cup (G2), Delhi ITF Juniors (G2), Chandigarh ITF Juniors (G3)
- 2017 – Oslo (G4), Hamburg (G4)
- 2016 – Liverpool (G5)
4.Wimbledon fairytale
Raducanu won her first ever match at Wimbledon on June 30th which was 23 days after she made her WTA main draw debut in Nottingham. Granted a wildcard into the Grand Slam, she has stunned Vitalia Diatchenko, former French Open finalist Markéta Vondroušová and Sorana Cirstea.
To put the run in perspective, she is the youngest British woman in the Open Era to have ever reached the fourth round of Wimbledon. She is already guaranteed to earn at least £181,000.
‘I think the first thing that I would do is take my team out and treat them for a meal,’ the 18-year-old replied when asked what she would do with her earnings.
‘I think they have supported me so much throughout the years. It’s not always been easy.
‘I think they definitely, definitely deserve a nice meal out. Yeah, we would have a great evening.’
Perhaps even more significant is her rise in the rankings from 338 to inside the world’s top 180.
5.Endorsement from Muguruza
Whilst the sudden rise of the teenager has caught many off guard, two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza says she is not surprised after training with her. Muguruza spoke about the Brit following her third round loss to Ons Jabeur on Friday.
“I’m not surprised at all,” she commented. “We played actually a couple of times, and we talked after training and she had a great rhythm and a great attitude on court.
“That I really noticed. There are so many players that play well but she was so nice and humble and I loved practising with her. I will look forward to keep practising with her next time.”
Another person who has been impressed by Raducanu is tennis icon Billie Jean King who won a staggering 20 Wimbledon titles during her career in both singles and doubles.
“She brings all of herself to everything she does. Great for Britain, great for tennis. Looking forward to watching her progress,” King tweeted on Saturday.
Raducanu will play Australia’s Ajla Tomljanović in the fourth round on Monday.
