“Next year, I intend to cause some harm,” Emma Raducanu said.
When Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021 at just 18, her parents weren’t there to witness her historic victory. No one had anticipated that the unseeded teenager, ranked 150th in the world, would claim the title, making her the first British woman to win a major singles title in 44 years and the first-ever qualifier to do so. It wasn’t until she returned home to Bromley, Kent, that she celebrated with her family.
Recalling the moment she returned, Raducanu said, “I remember pulling up and seeing paparazzi outside my house. It was crazy, but as soon as I went inside to my family and friends, everything felt pretty relaxed. My mum had made dumplings, and we all sat around the table chatting. I didn’t want to do anything fancy; I just wanted to enjoy spending quality time with people I can really be myself with.”
Fast forward three years, and Emma, now 21, has been navigating a demanding tennis career, managing injuries in 2023, and working with major brands like HSBC, Nike, and Evian. During our Zoom call, she shares how her early life at Newstead Wood School, a competitive all-girls grammar school, shaped her dedication.
While she sometimes envied her peers attending parties she couldn’t go to due to tennis commitments, she never saw it as a sacrifice. “I knew I wanted to be the best, and I knew what I needed to do to get there,” she explains. Balancing the demands of school and tennis gave her structure, with each serving as a break from the other.
Emma’s wisdom and perseverance have always stood out, and this was evident when she underwent surgeries on both wrists and ankles in 2023 to treat a painful condition called carpal bosses. During her recovery, she used the time to improve herself, spending six weeks in China with her family, perfecting her Chinese, reading philosophy, and mentoring HSBC graduate students.
Reflecting on her recovery, Raducanu said, “It made me realize how much I rely on physical movement for wellness. At first, it was really tough, but you just have to get up and crack on.”
Despite her maturity, Raducanu relies on her support system, particularly her mother, Renee Zhai, and her coach, Nick Cavaday. She seeks their guidance on major career decisions, including the choice to have surgery and the difficult decision to withdraw from mixed doubles with Andy Murray at Wimbledon due to wrist pain. “My mum is a big pillar of mine in all senses professional and personal. She’s my best friend,” Raducanu shares.
When it comes to tennis, she values her coach’s advice but isn’t afraid to challenge his views. As she puts it, “Consulting others leads to better decisions,” a belief reinforced by an HSBC survey she references, which found that 45% of people make better decisions when seeking input from others.