Emma Radhucanu : Future World No.1?

Emma Raducanu is a British tennis player who drew attention to the great games she provided at the US Open 2021. At the age of only 18, she managed to win the mentioned tournament. In that way, she became the first player to win the US Open without starting the qualifiers at the tournament. 

Emma is known for her aggressive style of play from the baseline, so she records a huge number of winners in matches. She has a great forehand but also an even better two-handed backhand. Emma has very good service, plays well on net, and moves great. Emma has all the qualities to climb to the very top of world tennis. On the way to the title at the US Open, she beat several very good players. In the quarterfinals, she defeated Olympic champion Belinda Bencic. She was better than Maria Sakkari in the semifinals. In the final, she defeated another teenager, Leylah Fernandez.

None of the mentioned tennis players managed to win more than seven games against Emma. What is fascinating is the fact that Emma won 10 consecutive matches without losing a single set. In the first four matches, she lost only 15 games, which only Serena Williams managed to do before her. After winning the US Open, she was ranked 23rd on the WTA list. The last time a British tennis player won a Grand Slam was back in 1977 when Virginia Wade won Wimbledon. After her unexpected triumph at the US Open, Emma became the main topic of the world media. Emma started that season in only 361st place. Before that, she had not played tennis for almost a year and a half due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Everyone was fascinated by winning a grand slam tournament by one girl. Emma comes from a very interesting family. Her father, Ian Raducanu, is of Romanian descent, while her mother, Renee Zhai, is from China. Emma was born in Toronto, Canada on November 13, 2002. At the age of two, she moved with her parents to the suburbs of London in the United Kingdom, under whose flag she competes in tournaments. She also has Canadian citizenship, which she has not renounced. She started playing tennis when she was only 5 years old. She was considered to be a very talented tennis player, but the top results should follow in the coming years. Emma also performed at Wimbledon that year, where she received a special invitation from the organizers.

Wimbledon is her favorite tournament. Before appearing in that tournament, she played only one match on the WTA tour. It is a very interesting fact that Emma had many more matches played in Grand Slam tournaments than in weaker WTA tournaments. Emma mostly played on the challengers. She made a sensation in London because she reached the round of 16 in her debut performance. She managed to beat two tennis players from the top 50, Marketa Vondrousova and Sorana Cirstea, which placed her in the fourth round. At the age of 18 years and 239 days, she became the youngest British woman to do so in the open era. The match of the eighth-finals with Ajla Tomljanovic ended in tears because she had to give up the match due to breathing problems. After good performances at Wimbledon she has arrived in USA taking 150th place on the WTA list. 

Just before leaving for the prestigious tournament in the USA, Emma had to pass tests in mathematics and economics to graduate from high school. Only two weeks before the trip, she applied for a driver's license. After the US Open, she stated that it was never a problem for her to harmonize her school obligations with her tennis obligations. The girl who just finished high school shocked everyone with a great result in such a big tournament. Tennis experts immediately began comparing her to the famous Williams sisters. They believe that it has even greater potential than Venus and Serena. Her idols, however, are Simona Halep and Na Li. She always said that these are players whose style of play she wants to imitate.

Before she performed at the US Open, she changed her coach. Instead of Nigel Sears, her coach became Andrew Richardson with whom she worked as a junior. She passed three qualifying rounds first. After that, she had no major problems against any rival in the main draw. No opponent managed to win at least one set. In addition to Emma, another girl, Leylah Fernandez, excelled in that tournament. In the end, she didn't have too many chances against Emma and was defeated 6-4, 6-3. She earned $ 300,000 by succeeding at the US Open, but her fortune was already estimated at $ 2.5 million based on the sponsorship deals she signed after Wimbledon.

Marketing expert Jonathan Shalit called her a "billion-dollar girl." After the triumph in New York, Emma said that she had never received so many invitations from big companies to advertise them. Therefore, the moment came when she had to leave that sphere to be managed by experts in the field of marketing. Marketing consultant Tim Crowe told the “Financial Times” that "Emma is currently a bigger brand even than British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton." In his opinion, she is on well way to being "more popular than Steffi Graf", and that she has already "become not only a British but a global brand".

In addition to her success at school and on the tennis court, she has already photographed for the prestigious Vogue magazine. Her sponsors are NIKE, Wilson, Dior, Evian, British Airways… She received the Sports Personality of the Year award from the BBC. Emma is currently ranked 18th on the WTA list, but by the end of the year, she should be expected to be in the top 10. If she continues with great games, Emma will not wait too long to become the best tennis player in the world. Women's tennis lacks a new star and Emma has all the predispositions to become one. With his behavior and convincing and efficient game, she attracts attention and there are great chances that she could become the world No. 1 soon. 

What you think about Emma's future as tennis star? Let us know in comments.

Thank you for checking. See you in the next topic

Creator credit: Nenad