Emma Raducanu Winning Us Open Tinged With Heartache As Current Absence Explained

In 2021, Emma Raducanu made her debut at the US Open as a qualifier, surprising everyone by ultimately winning the tournament without losing a single set.

The British tennis sensation left the world in awe when she defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez with a score of 6-4, 6-3, clinching her first Grand Slam title and marking the first such victory for a British woman in 44 years.

At just 18 years old, Raducanu made history as the first player to secure a major championship after emerging from the qualifiers and maintaining a perfect set record. Nevertheless, despite her extraordinary accomplishment, there was a sense of regret associated with the experience.

United States’ strict coronavirus rules at the time prevented her father Ion Raducanu and mother Renee Zhai from traveling to the States for the final, meaning she could’t share her triumph. “I speak to my parents, we don’t really talk so much about tennis but they just really want to know how I am in these moments,” the former British No. 1 said in her post-Grand Slam winning press conference.

“To not have them here with me, I would have loved them to be here and we can all celebrate together or they could be with me and experience the same things but you know, they’re watching from home very proud. My dad said to me ‘You’re even better than your dad thought’ so that was reassuring. My dad’s definitely very tough to please but I managed to today.”

Raducanu’s parents have been influential in their daughter’s remarkable journey to tennis superstardom. Romanian Ian and Renee, who is Chinese, were living in Toronto, Canada, where their only child Raducanu was born before the family moved to the UK when she was two.

Her parents work in finance and live in Bromley, south-east London, where Raducanu would hit tennis balls with her father in the street during the coronavirus lockdown. The 20-year-old shares a special connection with her parents and believes their firm method of parenting enabled her to become the person she is today.

She previously said: “They have been pushy to an extent. Not just in tennis but in everything. I think that I’ve developed that mentality since a young age.”

A miserable run of injuries has seen Raducanu fall to No. 185 in the world rankings after previously being as high as No. 10. In July she posted a series of videos on Instagram as she prepares to return to action. “First few steps but nice to be reintroduced,” she wrote.

“I tried my best to manage the pain and play through it for most of this year and end of last year by reducing practice load dramatically, missing weeks of training as well as cutting last season short to try to heal it,” she said in a statement after her operations.

“Unfortunately it is not enough. I’m having a minor procedure done on both hands to resolve the issues. I am disappointed to share I will be out for the next few months and while I am at it I will have another minor procedure that is due on my ankle. It pains me that I will miss the summer events and I tried to downplay the issues so I thank all my fans who continued to support me when you did not know the facts. Looking forward to seeing you all back out there.”