Emma Raducanu reveals the moment she decided to become a professional tennis player

Emma Raducanu rose into the spotlight so fast, it was near impossible not to know her name, where she came from, and what she has achieved.

After turning heads with her run at Wimbledon in 2021, the then 18-year-old went on to achieve something no tennis player has ever done before.

She entered the US Open unseeded and had to play three qualifying rounds before even making it to the main draw. Once there, she stormed the rounds, casting aside each opponent until she had her hands on the trophy.

Raducanu’s victory made her the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam tournament. She also became the first British woman to win a major title since Virginia Wade in 1977.

At just 18, Raducanu had achieved something even the most senior players can go their whole career without. The world was, and still is her oyster — such a performance at the US Open radiated professionalism and experience.

But in fact, Flushing Meadows was just Raducanu’s third ever professional tournament and unlike many other players, setting her heart on playing tennis for a living was a decision that came quite late in her life.

The 19-year-old recently told Harper’s Bazaar a number of things people may not know about her, including the moment she decided to pursue a career in tennis.

“The moment [that] it really clicked in that I wanted to be a tennis player was actually pretty recently. I kept my education up all the way until finishing my A Levels, so maybe mid-GCSEs I was like, ‘okay, I’m not going to go to college, I’m going to try and be a professional tennis player, see how it works.’

“I always had my education to fall back on.”

In just three months, Raducanu skyrocketed through the Women’s Tennis Association rankings — rising an astonishing