Wimbledon tennis - Who is rising British star Emma Raducanu? Teenager through to fourth round at Grand Slam
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Published 03/07/2021 at 15:30 GMT
Emma Raducanu is rapdily becoming Wimbledon's biggest surprise package this year, but for many tennis fans the 18-year-old is a completely new face on the court. Raducanu is competing at her first Wimbledon and only made her WTA debut in June. On top of that, the teenager just sat her A-levels and appears poised to become a big star.
Emma Raducanu of Great Britain celebrates a point during her Ladies' Singles third Round match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania during Day Six of The Championships
Image credit: Getty Images
Emma Raducanu is quickly becoming one of the biggest stories at Wimbledon, but for most fans this is the first time seeing the teenager in action.
After staging an epic comeback to beat French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova, Raducanu repeated the trick against Sorana Cirstea on Saturday to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon.
This is the 18-year-old’s Wimbledon and Grand slam debut and Raducanu only made her maiden appearance on the WTA Tour in June.
Naturally, the newcomer has many tennis fans asking, who is Emma Raducanu?
Background
Raducanu is a Londoner but was born in Canada. Her family moved to Great Britain when she was still a toddler. She has a Romanian father and a Chinese mother, and Raducanu is rapidly becoming Britain’s next bright hope in tennis.
Raducanu began playing tennis aged five and explained that her parents were always eager for her to make a career out of it.
“They have been very tough on me as a kid,” Raducanu 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.”
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“I’m quite an aggressive player, but I would say the biggest thing is that I’m quite gritty,” she continued.
“In a match I would say that’s my biggest strength. In those tight situations in a match I just don’t want to let it go.
“I like it in a match when I feel like it gets clutch, those situations when it really gets exciting. I quite like playing in those tight situations because it challenges me and tests how mentally strong I am.”
Professional career
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Britain's Emma Raducanu reacts as she gives a media interview after winning against Romania's Sorana Cirstea during their women's singles third round match on the sixth day of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Tennis Club
Image credit: Getty Images
Raducanu is still at the very start of her pro career after her WTA debut in June and was sitting her A-levels in maths and economics just two months before Wimbledon started.
The pandemic may have slowed Raducanu’s progress and the youngster said she was forced to focus her competitive nature into her studies.
Currently Raducanu is ranked 338 in the world, but in the last week at Wimbledon has beaten world number 45 Cirstea and world number 42 Vondrousova.
Wimbledon has been a good hunting ground for Raducanu, who made it to the 2018 juniors quarter-finals where she was eventually dumped out by that year’s winner, Iga Swiatek. Raducanu achieved the same feat at the US Open juniors and she won the first ITF junior title when she was just 13.
Coach’s word
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Nigel Sears has previously coached Ana Ivanovic
Image credit: Reuters
Raducanu is coached by Andy Murray’s father-in-law Nigel Sears. The British circuit has been raving about her for some time and Sears has been consulting for Raducanu since she was 15.
“Quite frankly, I think the sky’s the limit,” he said about the young star.
I think Emma compares very, very favourably in terms of material. I always have felt that, I thought that from day one.
“She has the necessary qualities and she’s hungry enough and eager, eager to learn.
“She’s ambitious and she wants to do it and I just think that, given the right opportunities and more match experience, I think she’ll make good progress. It’s really up to her how far she goes.”
Player’s word
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Emma Raducanu is world number 338
Image credit: Getty Images
Raducanu is the youngest Brit to reach the fourth round since Elena Baltacha in 2002 and will take on either Jelena Ostapenko or Ajla Tomljanovic in her next match.
Both are tough opponents and Raducanu admitted she was trying to deal with the pressure of becoming a sudden star.
"I am so speechless right now," Raducanu said. "I didn't know what my reaction would be, and then that just happened. I'm so, so grateful for all the support I had today.
This is by far the biggest court I've played on. I think I coped quite well in the beginning, I just tried to hold my nerve.
"When I was packing to come into the bubble, my parents said, 'Aren't you packing too much match kit?' I think I'm going to have to do some laundry tonight."
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