Emma who? If you’re not a British tennis fan, then you’d be forgiven to not knowing who Emma Raducanu is.
Raducanu burst on to the world stage at Wimbledon as a wildcard July before suffering an emotional meltdown, overcome by her new found fame.
Understandable for an 18-year-old suddenly thrust into the world’s sporting spotlight.
This past week in New York Raducanu has four more fame and has dealt with it remarkably well.
Tomorrow she will face American Shelby Rogers in round four of the US Open – possibly an even bigger stage than Wimbledon.
But to the uninitiated, who is Emma Raducanu?
Born in Toronto, Raducanu’s father Ian is Romanian and her mother Renee is Chinese.
The family moved to Bromley, south London, when Raducanu was two.
By the age of five young Emma was already holding a racket.
Her competitive nature was developed by her parents.
“They have been very tough on me as a kid,” she said after Wimbledon.
“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.”
But tennis may not have been her first choice. Raducanu was good at a number of sports, skiing and even ballet. Yes ballet, which may explain why she looks so graceful across the courts of Flushing Meadows this past week.
Apparently she is also good at horse riding and golf, and has love for motorsport – watch out Hamilton.
She was a junior quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2018, and during the pandemic has passed her driving test and also finished her high school studies, taking her final school exams just before Wimbledon.
“It’s a bit of an escape for me. To have another thing going alongside my tennis, it’s kept my mind occupied,” she said. Wow!
“You only train a certain amount of hours a day. You’ve still got a lot of time to fill. I find it’s actually helped me with my on-court career as well in the way that I can absorb a lot of information. I feel that on court I’m more tactically astute than some others.”
Arriving at Wimbledon she was ranked world No.338, She is now on course to crack the Top 100.
And New York has taken Raducanu to their hearts, with her matches witnessed by packed stands.
The showdown with Rogers will be a sellout.
