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Emma Raducanu Indian Wells 2021
Emma Raducanu, Tennis News, Tennis Tournaments, WTA Tennis Players

‘They have adopted her’ – Slam champion on warm welcome for Raducanu


Romanian fans have received Emma Raducanu with great pride at the Transylvania Open according to former world number one.

The father of the Brit, Ian, is from Romania, with fans there treating the talent as one of their own.

Such news has been confirmed by none other than Romanian star and two-time Slam champion Simona Halep.

“The people here are proud of what she has done,” Halep said according to The Telegraph. “They have adopted her, let’s say.”

Raducanu is playing just her second event since her US Open triumph after losing in the second round of Indian Wells.

She sits at 23rd in the WTA rankings, the same position she first achieved after New York and just one ranking spot lower than her career-high number 22.

Raducanu is seeded third at the WTA 250 Transylvania Open, behind Halep and newly crowned Kremlin Cup champion Anett Kontaveit of Estonia.

Her first match will be against Slovenian world number 124 Polona Hercog. Should the 18-year-old reach the quarter-finals, she could face fellow WTA rising star Marta Kostyuk. The 19-year-old Ukrainian world number 55 is the sixth seed.

Raducanu is still without a coach following her split with Andre Richardson. However, she is positive about the near future, stating “part of the experience I am having is being able to learn to coach myself.”

The Transylvania Open is enjoying its inaugural staging on the WTA tour, with a draw size of 32, played on indoor hard courts.

In addition, two of the eight seeds represent Romania in Halep and Irina-Camelia Begu, ranked 57th in the world. The event is also Raducanu’s first indoors at WTA tour level.


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