Emma Raducanu names Novak Djokovic tennis GOAT, calls Roger Federer her personal favourite ahead of US Open

Britain’s young tennis star Emma Raducanu has called Novak Djokovic the greatest of all time but revealed that Switzerland’s Roger Federer remains her favourite player. The 21-year-old was once regarded as the next big thing when she lifted the US Open title at the age of just 18 back in 2021.

The most impressive aspect of that win was that Raducanu started the competition through the qualifying round but still managed to go all the way and beat Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the final in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

Raducanu, who is currently in New York to feature in the fourth and the final Grand Slam of the year, recently featured in a video of Sky Sports where she talked about a number of different things, including who is the greatest of all time in tennis. She named Serbia’s Djokovic in that regard but stated that her personal favourite has been Switzerland’s Federer. The former world number 10 also stated that her favourite venue to play is Wimbledon, whereas her favourite Grand Slam is the US Open, where she lifted her first and, till now, only major title in her career.

"In my opinion, the tennis GOAT is Novak Djokovic for pure, just repeatable quality,” she said. “But I think my favorite to watch is Roger Federer. The best venue to play at, in my opinion, is Wimbledon. It’s my favorite tournament and the one that I want to win the most," she said. I would say my favorite Major is the US Open because I have such special memories from that place and it’s also on my favorite surface, I love hard courts."

Raducanu is coming into the competition on the back of an impressive outing in the Citi Open where she was eventually knocked out after losing in the quarterfinal to Spain’s Paula Badosa. She will face America’s Sofia Kenin in the opening round of the US Open 2024 on Tuesday.