Australian Open: Emma Raducanu shows off her Mandarin skills, and pokes fun at Tennis Channel host’s outfit

The 19-year-old British star, born to a Romanian father and Shenyang mother, cracks jokes in Chinese during interview

Raducanu ‘proud’ to make her Australian Open main draw debut but faces ‘tough’ first-round match against Sloane Stephens

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Britain’s Emma Raducanu during a practice before the Australian Open in Melbourne. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:11pm, 15 Jan 2022

Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu has once again impressed with her Chinese speaking abilities ahead of her Australian Open debut next week.

The 19-year-old British No 1, born in Canada to a Romanian father and Chinese mother, has collected a huge mainland following after fans learned of her Shenyang roots, Nanjing tennis academy visits and women’s great Li Na being one of her role models.

She even celebrated her US Open win last September with a plate of home-made dumplings, before opening a Weibo account to address fans in Mandarin that she would visit in 2022.

Featuring in the Tennis Channel’s latest Warm and Fuzzy episode released two days before the Australian Open, host Michael Kosta asked Raducanu to showcase her bilingual talents by praising his outfit in Mandarin. Instead, she jokingly said “Hi Michael, I don’t like your socks.”

On Saturday, Raducanu said she was “proud” to be playing in her first Australian Open, pointing out that a year ago she was still studying for school exams.