
Following her shocking title run at the 2021 US Open, Emma Raducanu revealed that she felt like she was watching someone else when reviewing her match in the final.
The British teenager defeated fellow rising star Leylah Fernandez in a highly-anticipated final, with both ladies taking the tennis world by storm as they fought their way past top stars to reach the final.
"I think it's gradually sinking in a bit more because last night I actually just re-watched the final and tried to relive a couple of the moments and remember how it felt," Raducanu said in an interview with the BBC.
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"So it is sinking in a little bit more but it is still such a whirlwind of an experience, I've loved every moment of it, but it is something that's very difficult to fully comprehend."
The 18-year old became the first qualifier in the men's and women's game to ever win a Grand Slam title, but revealed that she still could not believe it was her who was playing when she reviewed her final match.
"It's funny because when I was watching the final it almost feels like that's not me who's playing and pulling off some of those shots," said Raducanu. "It feels like it's someone else."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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