Growing up, Emma Raducanu Played Tennis to Please Her Parents — Now She Does It for Herself

When it comes to tennis, you could say Emma Raducanu is the Emma Raducanu of the sport. By that we mean, there is no one to compare her to but herself. In 2020, she won the U.S. Open in New York at the age of 18 and a few months later, she was walking the red carpet at the Met Gala. In case you're wondering, she wore Chanel.

This led to commercial deals with brands that you don't often see courting such a young athlete. From Dior to Tiffany & Co., Emma has modeled poise in the pages of magazines and on the tennis court. How does someone so young accomplish so much, without making some really bad decisions? She owes it all to her parents, who Emma says were pushy but not forceful, per The Times. Let's get to know them.

In an interview with Elle Magazine, Emma said her parents were tough on her when she was growing up, but their expectations have since evened out. Emma says her parents are the ones responsible for her resilience as a player, because they always put things in "perspective" and were great "mentors."

Emma learned that she can't feel sorry for yourself, which is something she learned by having a Chinese mother and Romanian father. They each grew up during difficult times and taught their daughter that you have to pick yourself up and dust off the dirt. "I’ve seen some great people who I was playing with in the juniors who had way more lenient parents," she told The Times. They would tell their children it was OK if they didn't win. Those people are no longer playing tennis.

According to Emma's parents, a boyfriend is nothing but a distraction and all they do is interfere with training. "When I was younger I wasn’t even allowed to hang out with my girlfriends," she explained to The Times. Although she resented her mother and father for these rules, it also made Emma "very confident and comfortable" in her "own company."

The most relaxed Emma has ever felt was when she and her family visited her grandmother in China for a month. Her mother encouraged Emma to paint and she "picked up playing the piano as everyone plays there." Because her parents instilled in her a relentless need to learn, it's hard for Emma to sit still. "I need to do something useful," she said.

When she is at work, Emma's parents always travel with her. "I like to keep them close as a lot of people like to separate the player from their parents as they are easier to manipulate," she shared. Although the tennis pro spends a lot of time with her parents, her favorite place to be is still at home with them in Bromley, a London borough. "'The greenery, the countryside," said Emma. "It's just so lovely."