Tennis stars including Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka fill red carpet at Met Gala as Emma Raducanu celebrates US Open
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Published 14/09/2021 at 09:45 GMT
The 18-year-old Emma Raducanu, who has been inundated with media requests and event opportunities since being crowned the surprise champion as a qualifier at Flushing Meadows, joined a host of other big names in tennis and sports at the 2021 Met Gala in New York on Monday night. Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams and runner-up Leylah Fernandez were among the other tennis stars to make appearances.
Osaka, Raducanu, Williams, Biles hit the Met Gala red carpet
Tennis stars filled the red carpet at the 2021 Met Gala on Monday night as Britain's Emma Raducanu continued to celebrate winning the US Open title.
Raducanu, who has won 21 of her past 25 matches and become Britain's number one player, completed her remarkable run in New York with a straight-sets victory in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday night and has since surged up the rankings from number 150 in the world to 23.
The 18-year-old, who has been inundated with media requests and event opportunities since being crowned the surprise champion as a qualifier at Flushing Meadows, joined a host of other big names in tennis and sports.
The gala, which raises money for the museum's Costume Institute, celebrated the institute's 75th anniversary and the timing of the rescheduled event led to a host of tennis stars making appearances.
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'She looked so comfortable in the biggest moments' - Wilander in awe of Raducanu
Naomi Osaka wore a gown designed in collaboration with her sister and former tennis player, Mari Osaka, while other tennis players at the event included Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Matteo Berrettini, Ajla Tomljanovic, Leylah Fernandez, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Sloane Stephens.
For the 19-year-old Fernandez, who produced a similarly stunning run to Raducanu in New York to reach the final, it was another incredible moment marking her rise within the sport.
Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova was also present, and a photo of her alongside Serena Williams surprised many, given the pair were not always the best of friends on tour.
Away from tennis, there were many other big names present from the world of sport.
US gymnasts Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee made appearances, along with US footballer Megan Rapinoe and basketball superstars Russell Westbrook and Steph Curry.
Raducanu, who says she has loved every second of her New York adventure, has credited her parents for giving her the "mental strength" to succeed in tennis.
"I think that from a young age I've always sort of been brought up to have mental strength," she told ABC's breakfast show Gold Morning America on Monday.
"My parents, you know, they played a huge part of my upbringing.
"They were pretty tough on me when I was young but it kind of shaped the way and I think now it's helping on the biggest stages in the world and Arthur Ashe Stadium when you really need it and it was basically a full capacity - so it was very, very cool.
"It was really nice to talk to them after I won. They were just so happy and proud of me and my toughest critics and very, very hard to please but, yeah, I got them with this one. They couldn't resist."
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