Emma Raducanu is only a few years older than most of the children we teach and yet she is now a golden light on the global sports stage after her sensational accomplishment at the US Open.

Someone so inspiring – we wanted to share 5 fun facts about Emma Raducanu, this 18 year old tennis sensation who is driven, motivated yet down to earth. How does she stay so grounded yet perform so well?

1. She is especially fond of motor sports but has varied sporting interests including go-karting, motocross, horse riding, tap dancing, golf, skiing and basketball.
2. She spent a lot of time studying Chinese tennis player ‘Li Na’ saying “She’s got such powerful strokes. She went for everything and also she was very athletic in a more aggressive way. I loved her mentality, she never complained. That’s something I aspire to be like.”
3. Her first international success came when she was only 10 years old. At that age, she won a Tennis Europe 11 & Under event in Bressuire, France.
4. In order to improve her reaction times, she plays table tennis in Shenyang at the professional table tennis club.
5. Outside of sport she is a fan of her parents cultures: she speaks Mandarin, binge-watches Taiwanese television shows, and loves nothing more than visiting paternal grandmother Mamiya in Bucharest.