“They’ve adopted her and taken her in” Tracy Austin explains how the US crowd has become fans of Emma Raducanu
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Tracy Austin and Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu has undoubtedly been one of the finds of the season after the teenager put in some great performances on the biggest of stages. She shot to fame with her 4th round run at the 2021 Wimbledon where her popularity forced the organisers to schedule her 4th round match at the prestigious Centre Court of the All-England Club.
With the tennis fraternity following her closely, she gave in another great performance with a run to the finals of the 2021 US Open where she started from the qualifying stages and has made her way to the finals of the Grand Slam without going into the tie-breaker let alone drop a set in the 9 matches she has played in New York.
Writing in her column for the Daily Mail, 2-time US Open champion (1979, 1981) and Mixed Doubles winner at the 1980 Wimbledon, Tracy Austin explained how Emma has won the hearts of the US crowd who are cheering for her in all her matches and get the entire arena buzzing with her name.
“I was indoors at Flushing Meadows for some of this match and yet I could still hear exactly who won each point because the Arthur Ashe crowd was so much in favour of Emma Raducanu. Many of them may have had no idea who she was when the tournament started, but they’ve adopted her and taken her in.
“Nobody could have seen a qualifier coming through to the semi-finals, particularly after eight matches without dropping a set or even being taken to a tiebreak,” Tracy wrote in her column.
“There’s not a shot she hits that’s poor” Tracy Austin in awe of Emma Raducanu
With Emma rising in popularity since the 2021 Wimbledon, Tracy Austin wrote how the situation is different in New York.
“At Wimbledon, it was much more of a microscope on her, everyone knew who she was and was cheering for her — the expectations were higher. Here, they’re just happy to see a young girl who’s so excited about the moment. The crowd feels like they’re in on it with her.
“She seems to have a good head on her shoulders, she speaks well and getting to the fourth round at Wimbledon probably helped her, it gave her valuable experience. Emma has all the weapons. She can finish points off by stepping up and hitting the corners. She has the technique, there’s not a shot she hits that’s poor.
“Her movement is also fantastic. She’s fast out of the corners and when she’s in the corners, she’ll do something with the ball — not just getting the ball back over the net,” added Tracy who was as impressed by the young Brit as the crowd at the Flushing Meadows.
With an exciting all-teen final set between Emma and Canada’s 19-year old Leylah Fernandez, a new champion will emerge after Saturday’s final.
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Sarthak Shitole
(3462 Articles Published)