"Not necessarily about telling everyone how good you are": Emma Raducanu takes inspiration from Chinese upbringing

Britain’s tennis star Emma Raducanu is of the opinion that confidence comes from ‘inner belief’.

The 20-year-old is set to return to the court after a lengthy spell on the sidelines because of multiple injury concerns.

Ahead of her potential return, Raducanu was recently quoted in a report where she expressed the process of having confidence.

“I think the confidence comes from just inner belief,” she said. “My mum comes from a Chinese background, they have very good self-belief. It’s not necessarily about telling everyone how good you are, but it’s about believing it within yourself. I really respect that about the culture.

“I will be coming back with a lower ranking but I’m looking forward to starting again, resetting. I still have new goals, new things I want to achieve but I’ve still got 15 years in my career so there is no rush.

“Throughout my career I’ve had setbacks. I take most of my inspiration from books. I read a lot. I read certain history, like Chinese history about the different dynasties. I just take inspiration from places that you wouldn’t necessarily think are obvious.”

Raducanu broke onto the scene in 2021 when she won the US Open after beating Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the final with a score of 6-4, 6-3.

That victory was even more special considering that the former world number 10 started that competition through the qualifying round.

However, since then, not much went right for the Toronto-born, largely because of her fitness concerns.

It was because of this reason Raducanu only played in one out of the four Grand Slams this year — the Australian Open.

She was knocked out from the second round of the first major tournament in 2023 after losing to America’s young tennis sensation and the reigning US Open winner Coco Gauff with a score of 6-3, 6-2.