Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu made her mark at the 2021 U.S. Open, winning the iconic tournament at age 18.
Returning to the American Slam in 2022, No. 11 ranked Raducanu will be carrying a solid amount of pressure as she looks to defend her title and maintain her top-tier ranking.
Since her Cinderella story in the Big Apple, she has struggled to go deep in the first three Grand Slams of the year, falling in the second round each time. Maybe her winning ways will return when she hits the New York hard courts in August.
As she faces France’s Alize Cornet in the first round of the 2022 U.S. Open, here are five things you should know about Emma Raducanu:
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
Emma Raducanu won the 2021 U.S. Open as a qualifier
In 2021, Emma Raducanu had quite the Cinderella story, starting in the qualifying rounds and going on to win the entire U.S. Open 10 rounds later.
Raducanu became the first singles qualifier in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title and became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade in the 1977 Wimbledon Championships.
The then-18-year-old faced Canada’s Leylah Fernandez, who was 19 years old at the time, to create the first all-teenage women's final since Serena Williams beat Martina Hingis in 1999.
Emma Raducanu won the ESPY for Best Athlete in Women’s Tennis in July
Emma Raducanu won the Best Athlete in Women’s Tennis ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) Award in July.
The other nominees for the award included Ashleigh Barty, Iga Swiatek and Leylah Fernandez.
Since winning the 2021 U.S. Open, Raducanu has had a tough time replicating the success in other tournaments.
Emma Raducanu speaks a few different languages
Emma Raducanu was born in Toronto in 2002 but was raised in England.
Her father, Ion, is from Romania while her mother, Renee Zhai, is from China.
Raducanu and her family moved to England when she was two years old, and she holds both British and Canadian citizenship.
While English is her primary language, she is also fluent in Mandarin and almost fluent in Romanian.
Emma Raducanu enjoys ping pong and Formula 1
Fans gathered around at the Citi Open earlier this month to see Emma Raducanu show off some impressive ping pong skills.
The teenager’s tennis skills effortlessly translated to table tennis as Raducanu was waiting to get on the court for her match.
Raducanu also enjoys F1 when she’s not competing and would like to get herself a motorbike license.
In 2021, she said Daniel Ricciardo is her favorite F1 driver. “I think his skills and laid-back style are more fun and conducive to learning and improving fast."
Emma Raducanu was in an Evian commercial with Dua Lipa
Emma Raducanu and singer Dua Lipa teamed up for an Evian “Drink True” campaign in June.
The two Brits had a great time shooting for the campaign as Raducanu taught Lipa how to play tennis in exchange for some dance lessons on set.
According to Evian, the campaign was created to celebrate “daring authenticity and being true to oneself.”
