Emma Raducanu is now ranked 1,690th in the world
Emma Raducanu celebrated her return to the UK with a courtside meeting with the Duchess of Cambridge – and a new address on the world’s top 100.
The 16-year-old Hungarian beat Laura Siegemund to win the 18-under girls’ title at the SSE Bremen Open in Germany on Sunday.
Raducanu, who was born in Birmingham, is the latest from her country to make a good mark on the professional tour.
“It’s so great to be back home again. It’s been so long,” she said.
“I’m so grateful for everything I have been given to allow me to do what I’m doing.”
Raducanu, who was in Grade 8 at St Anthony’s in Birmingham, is now ranked 1,690th in the world and will meet Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova in the second round of the Singles Category at the Bupa Champion of Champions tournament on Wednesday.
The local success followed her recent debut at the US Open where she lost to Johanna Larsson in the second round of the main draw.
In recent weeks, British number one Harriet Dart reached a career-high position of 57 in the world rankings, Jay Clarke is 81st and Andy Murray is 30th.
“There’s a lot of tennis happening in my home country. I hope this keeps going for a long time. I really love playing for my country,” said Raducanu.
She is also a qualified teacher at the world-famous Racquet Academy in London and hopes to become a teacher herself.
Last season, she appeared as a guest at Wimbledon for the first time to showcase the Under 15 section of the mixed doubles tournament where she teamed up with Murray’s sister, Naomi.
She is part of the Hungarians Youth Team with her brother Richard and her father Zoltan, who helped send him over to the UK from Hungary.
Her family initially came over to work at a hotel in Birmingham, but have since become experienced in English, with Emma having learned it from Zoltan.