Emma Raducanu’s ‘amazing talent’ recognised by tennis greats

Tennis News
Emma Raducanu in action on the WTA Tour

There is no doubt that Emma Raducanu has had a standout year in her breakthrough season, going from Bromley girl studying for her A-Levels to US Open champion.

The 19-year-old also won awards for her sensational year, recently winning the 2021 BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award and being named the BT Sport Action Woman of the Year.

Although she’s been criticised for not being consistent enough, winning at Flushing Meadows one week, then losing in the first round of the Linz Open the next, former tennis greats have stepped into the Raducanu conversation and have had their say on her success so far.

Tomas Berdych, one of the only players to defeat the Big Four which consisted of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, has commented on the British No 1’s recent form.

“She’s a young face of the new generation, there was a generation of Serena and Venus Williams where they won multiple slams and then it was only recently we’ve seen many different Grand Slam winners,” the Paris Masters champion told Sky Sports.

“Raducanu is fresh, so I think the way she played in New York was incredible, she managed to keep herself focussed, so why not?

“She has a chance of winning many titles – it would be great for women’s tennis.”

Former Spanish player David Ferrer also believes the British sensation has a promising future ahead of her but knows it won’t always be plain sailing.

“She has a great future, but the most important thing is to handle the pressure because it won’t be easy when you’re young and you’ve just won a Grand Slam,” the former world No 3 explained.

“It’s going to be really important for her, but she has an amazing talent and can win (more) Grand Slams in her career.”

Raducanu will be competing at her first ever Australian Open in January, but her preparation time was shortened when she caught Covid-19 earlier this month after travelling to Abu Dhabi for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship which she had to pull out of before it got underway.

The Australian Open starts on January 17.

David Ferrer Emma Raducanu Tomas Berdych

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