Meet Britain’s new squash star who has rocketed up the world rankings like Emma Raducanu

There must be something in the water in Bromley. The London suburb is home to Emma Raducanu, the tennis star who earned an improbable victory at the US Open, but she is not the only emerging talent to hail from the area.

Like Raducanu, British squash player Gina Kennedy has enjoyed a recent rise up the world rankings, shooting from 167th to 10th in just one year. And that’s not where the parallels end.

“She [Raducanu] plays at my club,” Kennedy told GiveMeSport Women. “I met her for the first time on Saturday. I see her training down at my club, and we go to the same physio clinic and strength conditioning clinic.”

“Raducanu was the wildcard for Wimbledon, where she got to the round of 16. It was kind of similar to my first event. I was the wildcard and I ended up beating a top 10 player and a top 20 player.

“My Mum was telling me it was like what Emma’s done, so I suppose there are some similarities.

“Of course what she’s doing is on a much more global scale – the pressure that she must be experiencing is way more, just because tennis is in the public eye while squash is so under the radar.

“I don’t know how I would deal with it if everyone was watching my every move, so she’s very inspirational.”

Kennedy played tennis herself when she was young and also ran for Blackheath and Bromley Harriers.

She fell into squash by chance, agreeing to give the sport a go when her friend’s Dad asked if she would play with his daughter.

It's been an impressive rise for @ginakennedyy