“Very Nervous”: Emma Raducanu Reveals Excitement Playing With Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu has been in the limelight ever since her inspiring three-week run in New York that ended with a dominant victory over Leylah Fernandez in the finals.

Right from former players to coaches, everyone has been praising the youngster for not succumbing to the occasion and remained focused on her game in the championship match. Now, all eyes are on Raducanu’s next tournament.

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With Indian Wells likely to be the option, the current world no.22 will have to play the qualifiers in order to make it to the main draw. The reason being, Indian Wells calculates the ranking points acquired before the US Open.

Emma Raducanu plays tennis alongside the Duchess of Cambridge

However, the tournament organizers are most likely to give a wild-card for the Brit. While Raducanu remained tight-lipped on the next event she wants to play, the youngster was asked to participate in an event hosted by the LTA Youth Program.

The program took place at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton, Raducanu had the privilege of meeting the Duchess of Cambridge for the first time. Not just that, the rising star got to play doubles alongside the Duchess.

“Perfect day for some tennis & what an honour, loved being part of the #LTAyouth fun”, Raducanu tweeted post the event.

Raducanu also mentioned that she felt more nerves playing alongside Kate Middleton than being at the US Open final.

“I was actually very nervous playing the duchess — I was like, ‘Don’t miss, don’t miss.'”, Raducanu said.

It’s a known fact that the Duchess of Cambridge has been a huge tennis fan and continues to be one. Every year at Wimbledon, she hands out the trophies during the ceremony as she is a patron of the Lawn Tennis Association(LTA).

Kate’s love for tennis goes way back to her school when she was a sportswoman. After Raducanu’s impressive win at the US Open, the Duchess tweeted saying that the whole nation was proud of the teenager’s achievement.

Coming to Raducanu, she announced today about her split with current coach, Andrew Richardson. With a huge leap in the ranking points, the Brit found the need to have the guidance of someone who has coaching experience on the WTA tour.

Also read: “Need Someone to Guide Me”: Emma Raducanu Announces Shock Decision After US Open Triumph