Emma Raducanu recently opened up about why her parents didn't want to allow her to have a boyfriend.
Unfortunately, narratives about Raducanu and her commitment to tennis have circulated ever since she won the US Open. Some of those narratives initially focused on her endorsement deals, but later, they focused also on her love life.
There were reports of her dating last year, and as it coincided with her injury recovery, it wasn't received that well by some fans. Still, having relationship has not been a very active part of her life.
Growing up, Raducanu didn't really have any boyfriends because her parents felt that it would be a distraction, as she recently revealed in an interview with The Times.
She was also not permitted to hang out with her friends often, which initially made her resent that. Looking back, she's glad to have experienced that because now she's quite comfortable being on her own, which isn't something that many people can say.
"My parents were very much against that [boyfriends] as it interfered with training. When I was younger I wasn’t even allowed to hang out with my girlfriends. A lot of the time I was very resentful. But it made me very confident and comfortable in my own company, which is also a big strength."
So far, none of that has really impacted her career because the most problems she's had were injuries. The rest doesn't really matter much, so we'll see. She's going to be skipping over Roland Garros to better prepare for the grass season, so let's see what she can come up with.
This is a huge season for Raucanu, and the coming months will be decisive for her career, especially around the time of the US Open, which she won years ago.
Listening to her parents paid off for Raducanu during her life, as it was her father, who pushed her to tennis, and that proved to be a great decision for the young Brit.
"I always need to be learning, I can’t just sit. I need to do something useful. This constant desire for improvement from my parents is now my innate state. At the start my dad forced me into tennis. I didn’t like it, but then as I got older and tennis became more of a priority I was pushing myself."