Emma Raducanu was born on November 13, 2002, and she has truly international roots. She was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to a Romanian father, Ion Raducanu, and a Chinese mother, Renee Zhai (Dongmei). After that, she was raised in Bromley, England, and holds British and Canadian citizenship. She speaks both Mandarin and Romanian.
Growing up, Raducanu was a really active child, taking up basketball, golf, karting, motocross, skiing, horse riding, and ballet, and on top of that, obviously tennis, which she started playing at the age of five.
During her junior career, Raducanu made it to the quarterfinals in junior competitions at Wimbledon and the US Open, and soon after that, she started competing on the WTA Tour, with her main draw debut being at the 2021 Nottingham Open.
And it wasn't long after her first professional tournament when the biggest triumph of Raducanu's career came. She entered the 2021 US Open qualifying as world no. 150 and cruised through the qualifying rounds without losing a set.
Thanks to that, she qualified for the main draw, only her second on a Grand Slam level, and that's where her incredible journey started. Raducanu went on to beat all of her opponents in straight sets to win the 2021 US Open and accomplish many things that had not been accomplished before.
She became the first-ever player to win a Grand Slam singles title as a qualifier, and at the same time the first player to win a a Grand Slam singles title with two or fewer major main draw appearances.
Raducanu immediately climbed up the ranking and eventually broke into the Top 10 in 2022. Yet, after that, Raducanu had to undergo three separate injuries, and she missed the majority of the 2023 season, dropping in the rankings significantly.
