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?
- She is especially fond of motor sports but has varied sporting interests including go-karting, motocross, horse riding, tap dancing, golf, skiing and basketball.
- 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.”
- 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.
- In order to improve her reaction times, she plays table tennis in Shenyang at the professional table tennis club.
- 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.
Sadly her parents couldn’t be there due to Corona restrictions.
After her victory, she said: “I speak to my parents, we don’t really talk so much about tennis but they just really want to know how I am in these moments.” We suspect they had a something to say about tennis after THAT match!
So there you have it – well rounded, family values and dedication are what it takes to be a super star!
