What to know about teenage sport sensation Emma R?ducanu, the emerging it girl of tennis
By Bronte Gossling|
Teenage tennis sensation Emma R?ducanu became Wimbledon's hot topic last year when she made history as the youngest British woman to reach the third round of the prestigious tournament at the ripe young age of 18.
Now 19, expectations were high when she walked onto Centre Court this year, and it was a shock when she was defeated in the second round จC but that doesn't mean she's not the sport's It girl. In fact, her status as such was only cemented when she wore $60,000 worth of Tiffany & Co jewels in the first round.
So who is Emma R?ducanu and why is everyone talking about her? Here are five things you need to know about the player who some are hailing as the future of women's tennis.
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Who is Emma R?ducanu?
Emma R?ducanu is a 19-year-old professional tennis player who represents the United Kingdom.
Born in Toronto in Canada, her father is Romanian จC hence her surname จC and her mother is Chinese. R?ducanu visits her paternal grandmother, who lives in Romania's capital Bucharest, several times a year.
Both of her parents work in finance, and when R?ducanu was two, she and her family moved to London as they thought it would be an exciting place for her to grow up.
R?ducanu went to a state selective girls' grammar school in London, Newstead Wood School, and started playing tennis when she was five years old at the Bromley Tennis Academy จC which was in the same borough as her school.
Stream every Wimbledon match is on Stan Sport.
What is Emma R?ducanu's tennis ranking?
Emma R?ducanu reached a career-high ranking of number 11 by the Women's Tennis Association in April 2022, and is currently the British number one.
R?ducanu is the reigning US Open champion, and when she won in 2021, she became the first woman from the United Kingdom to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade, who won Wimbledon in 1977.
R?ducanu has no doubles ranking currently.
When did Emma R?ducanu make her Grand Slam debut?
This is why some are calling Emma R?ducanu the future of women's tennis กช she made her debut in 2021 at 18, and became the youngest British woman to reach the third round of Wimbledon since Elena Baltacha in 2002, who was also 18 at the time.
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After failing to qualify for Wimbledon in 2019, R?ducanu made her Women's Tennis Association Tour จC the top-tier tennis tour for women worldwide จC debut in 2021 at the Nottingham Open, gaining entry on a wildcard.
The 18-year-old tennis pro then made her main draw Grand Slam debut, also on a wild card, at Wimbledon in June 2021.
Emerging victorious against Russia's Vitalia Diatchenko and Czech Republic's Markจฆta Vondrou?ovจข, R?ducanu became the youngest woman from the United Kingdom to reach Wimbledon's third round.
After defeating Sorana C?rstea in the third round, she then became, at 18 years and 239 days old, the youngest woman from the United Kingdom to reach the top 16 in the open era.
Her advance to the fourth round also meant she was guaranteed a top-200 Women's Tennis Association ranking จC bearing in mind she was ranked 338 at the start of the competition จC and a year later, largely thanks to her victory at the US Open in 2021, she is now ranked number 11 worldwide.
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Does Emma R?ducanu have social media?
Yes!
Emma R?ducanu has a Twitter account, which is verified, where she goes by the handle @EmmaRaducanu and has almost 654,000 followers. When she made her Wimbledon debut last year, she had 30,000 followers.
She is also verified on Instagram, where she goes by the handle @emmaraducanu and has 2.4 million followers. This time last year, she had 155,000 followers.
She also has a verified Facebook page called 'Emma Raducanu Official.'
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Who is Emma R?ducanu's coach?
Emma R?ducanu's tennis coach is German tennis player Torben Beltz, who is most known for coaching Angelique Kerber to victory at the 2016 Australian Open and 2016 US Open.
Her former coach was Nigel Sears, a legend of the tennis world in his own right, having previously coached top Women's Tennis Association players such as Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Amanda Coetzer and Anett Kontaveit.
He is also the father-in-law of Andy Murray, three-time Grand Slam Champion.
Of R?ducanu, whom he started working with when she was 15, Sears told Tennis Head, "Quite frankly, I think the sky's the limit."
"She has the necessary qualities and she's hungry enough and eager to learn. She's ambitious and given the right opportunities and match experience, she'll make good progress. It's really up to her how far she goes.
"She's handled this superbly. I couldn't ask for any more. She thinks big, which is one of the things I really liked about her when I first met her some years back. I just think she's born to play tennis and she likes the stage, and she's eating it up."
Sears and R?ducanu split in September 2021, and in between Sears and Beltz, R?ducanu was briefly coached by former British tennis player Andrew Richardson.
