Emma Raducanu: The making of Great Britain’s US Open champion

Emma Raducanu was not even a teenager when she had to make a big decision about her future.

It was a choice she made reluctantly.

Having been encouraged to take up a variety of sports by her father Ian – including horse riding, swimming and basketball – she was particularly enamoured with motocross.

“I was racing go-karts for a year or two when I was younger – about eight – and then at 10 I transitioned into motocross,” she told Amazon Prime earlier this week.

“I’m into motor sports but I couldn’t carry on with it as my tennis career progressed. It turned out pretty well.”

That has proved to be an understatement. Little more than five years later, the 18-year-old has reached a Grand Slam final.

With a steely composure in executing her skills, and an effervescent personality endearing her to fans across the globe, Raducanu has emerged as a star.

Having burst on to the professional scene by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, she has surpassed that by winning the US Open in only her fourth tour-level event.

“She has a great attitude, she is smart and is doing extremely well – I’m sure she will continue along the right path,” said Britain’s former world number one Andy Murray.

The sporting prodigy shaped by her parents
Raducanu’s rise has been heavily influenced by her Chinese mother Renee and Romanian father Ian, who both work in the finance sector and moved to London from Canada when their Toronto-born daughter was two.

First grabbing a tennis racquet at the age of five, Raducanu went on to join the Bromley Tennis Academy before her potential was spotted by the Lawn Tennis Association.

The governing body took Raducanu under its wing from an early age, with the youngster taking part in camps and trips abroad before progressing through the age groups.

Agencies