“I would take everything” Emma Raducanu looks back on a top turvy year since becoming Tour regular

“I would take everything” Emma Raducanu looks back on a top turvy year since becoming Tour regular

Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu is easily one of the most popular tennis players in the women’s circuit. It took her only 365days to become such an icon as her rise has been truly astronomic. She shocked the entire tennis world by winning the US Open last year as she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam. Before that, she performed well at the Wimbledon aswell. So the 19-year-old tennis sensation was reminiscing her life a year ago when she was giving her exams.

Looking at the last year, Raducanu opened up in front of British journalists at the Caja Magica after opening her account at the Madrid Open with a victory over Tereza Martincova. She said, “It’s funny because I was on my phone today and I looked at it and it sent me like the memories and one year ago today, I took my last maths exam, my Paper Three and then I was just reflecting on that and I was like: ‘Oh my god, like 365 days ago, I was literally sat in an exam hall doing Paper Three.’

Despite winning the US Open, the youngster has had a topsy turvy ride ever since. She has managed to reach the quarterfinals on Tour only twice after her triumph in New York. But Raducanu feels that she would take everything the way it is and is only looking forward. “I would have taken everything that’s happened and dealt with any sort of downs or losses or whatever those feelings are, if you would have given me what I’ve had in the last year, so it definitely gave me a lot of satisfaction and being very proud of myself. So I was really looking forward to carrying on,” Raducanu added.

Emma Raducanu kept going in spite of initial failures

Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu recalls how after her exams she rushed to training as the grass court season was approaching. She was always a bright student but her results on the court were not instant as she had to go through the grind before getting any success. “It’s funny because that afternoon after my morning exam, I went to go hit some balls because I had to get ready very quickly for the grass season,” she recalled. 

She reminisced the struggles early on when she had to juggle between studies and tennis and that affected her performances on the court. She highlighted how she stuck to the task and kept going until she reached the optimal level. “I didn’t play tennis for like two months. I actually played a Brit Tour at Connaught the week after my exams and lost and I was really considering what was going on. And then the week after I managed to win one very ugly and it kept me going and I feel like that mindset of just picking yourself up when you feel like you’re at the lowest of the low –  I’m like: ‘My head’s in the bin’ –  but then I got back up and all was good and I had a great grass season,” she concluded.

Raducanu is currently featuring at the Madrid Open and has had a winning start but now she will face Ukrainian youngster Marta Kostyuk in the second round. She aims to continue her good runs on clay court ahead of the Roland Garros.

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