Emma Raducanu says it is ‘really cool’ that she can speak with England captain Harry Kane as she finalizes her preparations for the Australian Open.
The former US Open champion has sought Kane’s advice in recent months to help the tennis star deal with life as a professional athlete. Last year Raducanu was seen wearing a Tottenham shirt, which is the club Kane plays for, during a practice session in Stuttgart. However, she later explained that what seemed to be a declaration of support for the Premiership side was spurred on by her team who are all big Spurs fans.
Raducanu does have a lot of admiration for Kane who has scored a record-equalling 53 goals for England so far in his career. He is also on the verge of matching Jimmy Greaves’ record for the most goals scored by a Tottenham player (266).
“Harry’s obviously such a great role model and very professional and I think to be able to speak to him is really cool,” The Guardian quoted Raducanu as saying. “We haven’t spoken so much but he’s obviously an outstanding player, and it’s just pretty cool isn’t it? For someone of his achievements, it’s pretty remarkable how he’s so humble. I respect him a lot.
“It’s obviously really cool to speak to some other athletes. I think it’s good because we all kind of understand what each other are thinking and going through at times. And at the end of the day they’re just really cool people as well.”
On the court, the world No.77 is hoping to regain some momentum in her game after suffering an injury scare. At the ASB Classic in Auckland, Raducanu had to retire from her second round match after rolling her ankle and was at one stage a doubt for the first Grand Slam of 2023.
However, the Brit says she has recovered thanks to what has been a ‘team effort.’ She is currently coached by Sebastian Sachs who has previously worked with Belinda Bencic.
“We’ve been working very hard. It’s been a team effort to get me to this place,” said Raducanu. “We’ve definitely expedited the process but I’m feeling really good and looking forward to getting out on the court. It’s just a huge, huge props to my team, really here and back home, who have helped get me to this place.”
Since lifting the 2021 US Open title, Raducanu has not gone beyond the second round of another Grand Slam tournament. At the Australian Open, she will play Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in the first round on Monday.
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