Emma Raducanu is the name on everyone’s lips at Wimbledon – and for good reason.
Playing her first Grand Slam main draw, the 18-year-old Brit has stormed into the third round – beating a former French Open finalist en route.
On Saturday, she will now play on Court 1 in front of an eager British crowd against Romanian world No. 45 Sorana Cirstea.
It’s a match that may be watched with as much interest in Cirstea’s country. Raducanu was born in Toronto to a Romanian father and a Chinese monther before moving to the UK at the age of two.
Raducanu, who lives in Bromley, is a high achiever on and off the court. She sat her A-levels in Economics and maths earlier this month, having aced her GCSEs with three 8s and the rest 9s across maths, further maths, English literature, English language, French and the sciences.
She won her first ITF junior title in the first week after her 13th birthday – the lowest age permissable to compete – and now she has exceeded expectations again, earning a cool £115,000 and climbing around 100 ranking spots for two match wins in SW19.
Typically, there is a call for expectations to be lowered when young Brits thrive against the odds but her coach, Nigel Sears – Andy Murray’s father-in-law – did little to play down British hopes.
Sears has worked with former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic and top-five Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova and feels Raducanu compares ‘very, very favourably’ to players he’s worked with in the past.
‘Quite frankly, I think the sky’s the limit,’ said Sears, who worked with her as a consultant since she was 15 before becoming her full-time coach a couple of months ago after splitting with Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit.
‘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, and, you know, 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.’
Raducanu has not looked fazed by her debut in the main draw at SW19 and Sears has been impressed by how she’s handled herself thus far.
‘Well I think she’s, she’s handled this superbly, to be honest with you,’ he added. ‘I couldn’t ask for any more.
‘Very smart girl, and very grounded. She’s very ambitious, and she thinks big, which is one of the things I really liked about her when I first met her some years back.
‘I just think she’s born to play tennis and she likes the stage, and she’s eating it up.
He added: ‘She’s all about achieving. So that’s what I mean by thinking big, you know, she’s not easily impressed. And she is a smart girl.
‘So she has an inquisitive mind, then she registers everything. She’s very together.’
Raducanu has practised with the likes of Garbine Muguruza during the grass-court season and readily visits other players’ practices in order to learn about her own game.
Compared to others her age, Raducanu has not played much competitive tennis but she typically wins when she steps out onto the match court.
Sears says her family have been ‘cautious’ with their approach to handling their daughter’s career, wary of not burning her out, but her performances given her lack of match experience have only convinced her coach of how far she can go.
Emma Raducanu fact file
Age: 18
Born: Toronto, Canada
Lives: Bromley, UK
Highest ranking: 333
Current ranking: 338
Live ranking post-Wimbledon: 233
Best Slam result: R3 Wimbledon 2021
‘Well, the thing is that if you look back at the few tournaments she has played, her win-loss ratio is incredible,’ said Sears.
‘I think wins are really related totally to your level. And her level has always been very high in everything that she’s done.
‘Yes, she doesn’t have too much experience, that’s the impressive thing. I mean, to be able to play at a high level and win matches at Challengers is one thing, to step up and place seasoned pros on a big stage is quite another.’
Raducanu will await her A-Level results in August so would she prefer perfect grades or a trip to the fourth round?
‘I’d have to say round four of Wimbledon,’ smiled Raducanu. ‘I think anyone that knows me would be like, “What?” Everyone thinks I’m absolutely fanatic about my school results. They think I have such an inflated ego about it.
‘Actually, I would say I have high standards of myself. That’s helped me get to where I am in terms of tennis and also in terms of school results. I’d still pick round four.’
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