Emma Raducanu superfan scores big gift from British No 1 after ‘shameless’ act
The superfan who received a shoutout from Emma Raducanu following his fervent support during her first-round win at the Australian Open has scored big.
Raducanu started the season-opening Grand Slam with a solid 6-4, 6-1 victory over Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew and she had plenty of support inside Margaret Court Arena with one spectator in particular grabbing her attention.
The fan was heard shouting “Go Raddo” during the match and the British No 1 took a liking to the nickname as during her on-court interview, she said: “Raddo apparently is my new nickname. I’ve never heard that one before, so pretty original.
“It was great to have that support. I said he can come to any match, so I just need to try and locate him. I hope he comes back!”
The man became an instant hit on social media as he went viral with users trying to identify him while friends and family also got in touch as they were “seeing him everywhere”.
The search has been successful as he has been identified James Bray and he “shamelessly” got in touch with Raducanu and her agent, and he is now set to attend her next match against Anastasia Potapova.
“I shamelessly emailed her agent, her agent emailed me back and said, ‘Yeah, we’d love you to come to the next match’, so they’ve sent me a couple of free tickets, which is honestly very generous,” Bray told Wide World of Sports.
“I didn’t expect anything, of course.
“She’s very charismatic, a great tennis player, a great athlete and very generous.”
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As for his instant fame, “massive tennis fan” Bray is delighted that his newfound popularity can put the spotlight on the sport that he loves.
“I woke up to a lot of messages today, from friends, family, people I haven’t talked to in years,” he said. “And they’re like ‘Mate, we’re seeing you everywhere, it’s on TikTok, it’s on Instagram, it’s on Facebook, everything.
“I’m like, ‘OK, this is kind of weird, but also kind of cool – because I love the tennis. First and foremost, I’m a massive tennis fan, so any type of publicity I can get for the tennis, I’m all for it.”
Bray will be able to go to all of Raducanu’s matches for the rest of the Australian Open as he has tickets “to the rest of her matches”.
But what inspired the nickname “Raddo”?
“Being an Australian, we like to shorten people’s names and create nicknames for every possible person,” he said laughing. “I think Raddo is very appropriate, and she looks like she’s on board.”
He added: “I hope she goes all the way because I have got free tickets to the rest of her matches.
“So go Raddo, let’s go, let’s get her on board.
“All the Aussies, I expect you to get behind her because she’s going all the way, let’s go!”
