Opinion

Wimbledon teen star Emma Raducanu set for breakthrough off the court

British teenager’s background opens up possibility of Chinese market like Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics poster girl Eileen Gu

Japan’s Naomi Osaka has ripped up the rule book when it comes to earning power of female athletes

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Britain’s Emma Raducanu celebrates winning her third round match against Romania’s Sorana Cirstea at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. Photo: AP

Formerly of the South China Morning Post, Jonathan White has written about sport from China for nearly 15 years, and covered the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Fifa World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Published: 12:10pm, 15 Jul 2021Updated: 12:10pm, 15 Jul 2021

Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon may not have ended how she or the British public will have wanted but there is plenty to be positive about for the 18-year-old.

Not least that she won the Wimbledon Breakthrough Award this week, sponsored by Chinese brand Oppo, a sign of how far she has come.

A month ago she was yet to play her first WTA Tour event, now she is a household name and the future of British tennis, a sport that is always crying out for a new hope.

Being more accurate, Raducanu has captured the hearts of more than one nation. The Briton of Romanian and Chinese parents was the subject of much media and social media interest in her mother’s homeland and no doubt there was added interest in Romania when she beat top player Sorana Cirstea in the third round.

Canada-born, London-raised Raducanu is in touch enough with all these aspects of her background to list them in her social media bio: “Toronto London Bucharest Shenyang” and she regularly visited both Romania and China, at least before Covid-19.