Emma Raducanu opts to learn from Nadal, Djokovic, ditches Cambridge University

US Open Champion and great British hope at Wimbledon, Emma Raducanu has chosen to ditch a spot at Cambridge for the lessons learnt on the lawns of SW19. The young star- of Romanian descent- stunned onlookers by scything through the pack in the 2021 edition of the New York-based Grand Slam. Since then, the teenager has struggled with injuries, failing to reach the heights that propelled her to an unlikely Grand Slam.

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But the Briton is re-finding her feet steadily and is not one to shy away from picking up cues from the great masters of the sport. After sporting a Rafael Nadal insignia after her first-round win against Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck at Centre Court, she revealed that she loved watching the sport, making time to take in practice sessions of the modern legends Nadal and Novak Djokovic. An intuitive player, Raducanu has an extensive eye for detail, noticing subtle differences along the way:

“I love to watch tennis, I love to watch all the matches, I love watching people practising. I was watching Novak warm up and it’s actually quite fascinating to see the differences between him and Rafa. With Rafa you can feel his presence but Novak is extremely easy and fluid and the way he gets his power is very different,” quotes the Express.

The teenager is a woman of many talents. An exceptional student, the Toronto-born, Bromley-based Raducanu was offered a place at Cambridge University after securing straight As in Mathematics and Economics before her Wimbledon debut in 2021. But the ever-smiling British no.1 has other designs. Choosing to focus on her tennis for the moment, she plans to return to academia later in her life whilst continuing to engage with the same through non-institutional avenues:

“My Nan would definitely prefer me to go to Cambridge! I haven’t applied for anything. Cambridge for me, I don’t have to do it now. I can always go back to my education and it’s something I want to do because there’s more to life than tennis. It’s something I want to be going back to later on. Currently, I will just learn but in other ways, not necessarily through a system,” she adds.

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Raducanu will look to put her lessons to use going forwards at Wimbledon and beyond, starting with her second round clash against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.