Kate Middleton; Emma Raducanu.Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage; AELTC/David Gray - Pool/Getty
Kate welcomed the news that broke when most British people were waking. Signing her tweet with a simple “C” (for Catherine), she retweeted Raducanu’s own social media message with one of her own: “What an incredible achievement at this year’s US Open. We will all be rooting for you tomorrow.”
For her part, Raducanu, who only left school this summer, called her amazing journey to the final “Crazy, cool.” She beat the 17th seed Maria Sakkari 6-1, 6-4 and is the first qualifier to reach a major tennis final. Tomorrow she faces fellow teen, Canadian world Leylah Fernandez, 19 ( who is ranked 73rd in the world.)
Kate Middleton attends Wimbledon 2021.NEIL HALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Reacting to her win,Raducanu told the BBC,“It obviously means a lot to be the first in the final for so long. Crazy, cool. To be here in New York for three weeks is just absolutely mind-blowing for me.”
She added, “Honestly, right now I’m just thinking of the game plan, how to execute. That’s what’s landed me in this situation. It hasn’t been focusing on who’s expected to win this match or that one. I think it’s just taking care of the day. That’s what I’m doing quite well at the moment.”
“I don’t feel any pressure to win. Any pressure is self-inflicted. I have expectations of my level and how I want to perform but there’s no pressure in terms of results.”
The win is extra-special because at Wimbledon in July, her last major tournament, Raducanu hadto retire due to medical reasons. She abandoned her match against Australian Ajla Tomljanović and a day later explained, “I was playing the best tennis of my life in front of an amazing crowd this week and I think the whole experience caught up with me. I started to breathe heavily and felt dizzy.”
She continued, “The medical team advised me not to continue and although it felt like the hardest thing in the world not to be able to finish my Wimbledon on the court, I was not well enough to carry on.”
source: people.com
