After a difficult couple of years, Emma Raducanu is playing highly competitive tennis once more — and she appears to be enjoying the rigors of the WTA Tour.
The British star made history in 2021 when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam event in the Open Era, lifting the U.S. Open trophy after easing through the tournament without dropping a set. She was just 18 at the time.
Injury troubles and coaching changes have combined to disrupt her professional life for much of the period since that unforgettable triumph, but Raducanu, now 21, has enjoyed a good return to the Tour in 2024 and is again carrying the hopes of a nation at Wimbledon.
Her family heritage means she has plenty of fans backing her within the UK and around the globe.
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Raducanu was born in Toronto in 2002. She and her family moved to England when she was 2, and she went to school in the London borough of Bromley,
She holds dual Canadian and British citizenship.
Raducanu’s father is Ion Raducanu, who is from Bucharest, the capital city of Romania. Her mother, Renee Zhai, is is from Shenyang, China.
As well as English, Raducanu is fluent in Romanian and Mandarin.
Shortly after her astonishing U.S. Open win in 2021, she became a viral sensation on social media in China after a video was posted of her thanking her fans in Mandarin.
Raducanu has spoken of both the importance of education and the value of hard work that her parents helped to instill in her. Speaking of her mother’s side of the family, she said: “They are so mentally resilient — it’s like nothing can bring them down. I would say I take a big part of my inspiration from her. My mum has worked very hard.”
After battling past Renata Zarazua in the first round of Wimbledon in 2024, Raducanu compared her victory to England’s dramatic Euro 2016 triumph over Slovakia, in which Jude Bellingham equalized in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time.
“Honestly, watching the football last night, it was winning ugly — it all counts!” she said.
Raducanu became something of a football fan after England’s run to the final of Euro 2020. After being pictured wearing a Tottenham shirt in a practice session in Stuttgart two years ago, she revealed she had been inspired to become a Spurs fan by watching Harry Kane.
According to Forbes, by the end of 2023, Raducanu had a net worth of $15.2 million (£12 million).
She was the fourth-highest-earning female athlete of the year, despite injury issues curtailing her playing time to the point that she ended 2023 ranked 299th in the world. The majority of her income came through endorsements with companies such as Dior, Tiffany, Nike and Porsche.
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