Emma Raducanu became a Grand Slam champion as a teenager, but the Brit dreamed about becoming one only seven years before that.
Raducanu was a fairly talented young player, but she was never considered a young prodigy like Coco Gauff. Even then, Raducanu understood the importance of hard work because her parents instilled that in her pretty early on.
When she was 11 years old, Raducanu was asked about being a Grand Slam champion one day. Knowing the long journey ahead of her, the youngster responded with great maturity.
"Yeah, I know it's really hard work but hopefully, if I like work on my game and pull it together then maybe."
Back then, she had no idea that only seven years after that, she'll be lifting the US Open trophy. It's been an incredible run for the Brit, which started in the qualifying rounds.
It was only Raducanu's second major appearance. She previously received a wild card at the Wimbledon Championships, where she made it to the fourth round before retiring in a match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic.
Thanks to those points, which she accumulated during her Grand Slam debut, Raducanu was also able to enter the qualifying of the 2021 US Open, a tournament that would change her life forever.
She cruised through qualifying without losing a set, and soon after that, she did the same thing in the main draw, winning the tournament without losing a single set.
In the final of the tournament, she defeated Canada's Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 to win her first Grand Slam title, something she had only dreamed about seven years before that, and something that was never done before.
That was a dream come true for the Brit, and she hopes to achieve many more of her dreams in the future, as she certainly has the potential to do that.
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