SINGAPORE — In a bid to build momentum for the new season — one which, in her own words, has already “started pretty well” — Emma Raducanu finds herself one of the headline acts of this week’s Singapore Tennis Open.
While the tournament will understandably be unfamiliar to many, given this is its inaugural edition as top-level tennis returns to the Southeast Asian nation for the first time since it hosted the WTA Finals from 2014 to 2018, the location itself is hardly foreign to Raducanu.
In fact, she absolutely feels right at home in Singapore.
Even before the materialisation of the new WTA 250 event, Raducanu had already visited the country on her own travels and had her Singaporean fans excited back in January 2022 when she was spotted having a hit at a local tennis club.
More than just being one of her preferred overseas destinations, it is Singapore’s cosmopolitan identity that resonates with the 22-year-old of Romanian and Chinese heritage.
“I’m extremely excited to be in Singapore. It’s one of my favourite places in the world, so it means a lot that there’s a tennis tournament here,” said Raducanu, in a one-on-one interview with ESPN.
“Every time I’ve been here before, I’ve had amazing love, amazing support from people at the tennis club, and I’m just excited to get on the match court here and get started.
“I think the affinity with Singapore came about because, I think in 2022, I came back from Australia [after the Australian Open] and I’d always wanted to go to Singapore because I feel like it’s the perfect fusion between East and West.
“I feel it represents me a lot because [two of] the languages here — Mandarin, as well as English — I can use both.
“As soon as I landed in Singapore and went around, I felt at home because I just feel like it’s a place that represents me or reflects who I am.”
The Singapore Tennis Open coincides with the Lunar New Year on Wednesday, a festival that Raducanu celebrates given her Chinese roots.
Although career will come first for Raducanu in the Year of the Snake, that is not to say she will not be able to have the traditional gatherings and reunions with her loved ones.
“It’s nice to be in Asia over Chinese New Year. I have my mom here as well with me, which is a really nice addition,” she revealed.
“My best friend actually is [from] Singapore and she’s back for the Chinese New Year holidays. Usually she works in the NHS [England’s National Health Service] as a doctor. She invited me out for dinner with her grandma so hopefully I can make that if I’m not playing!”
Family and friends aside, Raducanu will also have no shortage of fans supporting her over the past week — and it is obvious why that is the case.
Her stunning triumph at the US Open in 2021 launched her to stardom. She was the first player in the Open Era, female or male, to win a Grand Slam tournament as a qualifier — without losing a single set at that.
Her undoubted talent coupled with her genial personality gained her legions of supporters overnight.
What has equally put her in the spotlight has been some trying times since.
Raducanu has been candid enough with her struggles with injuries and form previously. The US Open victory remains her only career title to date.
Still only 22, perhaps all that she has experienced in her career so far — both the good and the bad — has shaped the person she comes across as: optimistic yet stoic in equal parts.
“Of course, it’s going to come with the territory,” Raducanu replied, when asked about the pressure and expectations that constantly follow her.
“I think I welcome it as a challenge but also a privilege. It’s only like that because I achieved such an amazing thing [so I] need to take the positives from that.
“I think all the people at the top of the game, or at the top of whatever industry they’re in, experience a similar thing.
“Everyone plays their best tennis against you. You just have to try and take it as a compliment and think ‘okay, you’re going to play better but I’m going to try and beat you anyway’.
“I think it’s a natural thing that happens if you’ve done well and now I’m just working towards building a more consistent and sustainable Emma.”
With the confidence that she is currently in “a really healthy place” and coming off the back of a largely positive Australian Open — even if it ended in a third-round exit at the hands of five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Świątek — what would an ideal year ahead be for Raducanu?
“In an ideal world, 2025 would look like an Emma Raducanu who’s played quite a few more tournaments [and] competed at all the Slams,” she added.
“Then obviously I have a few goals that I prefer to keep to myself, but I’m striving towards building something good.
“I’m extremely excited for this season. I feel like I started pretty well [and] made a positive start in Australia.
“It’s a good week for me to build on. I’m just excited to keep pushing on and building these weeks, and just looking to try and be on court longer, be on court healthy, and keep enjoying what I’m doing.”
