Emma Raducanu defeated her friend Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania 6-3 7-6(3) on the fourth and final day of the ATP Champions Tour’s Champions Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
After taking a short vacation, her first in seven years (!), and completely switching off, the 19th-ranked Raducanu flew back home to play a light-hearted exhibition match in the iconic British venue. The straight-set victory over the world No.85 Ruse capped the Briton’s debut season on the WTA Tour, which included a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon and, most importantly, the US Open title.
On Saturday, a day before her singles exhibition match, Raducanu was photographed practicing with Mansour Bahrami in the beautiful surroundings of the legendary building.
The last WTA tournament Raducanu played in 2021 was the Upper Austria Ladies Open, where she lost her opener to Wang Xinyu. Her 2022 preseason will start with the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi in December. In January, she will also play the Australian Open for the first time.
The 19-year-old Raducanu started her off-season training on Tuesday, primarily focusing on fitness, especially on her sprints to the net when she faces drop shots. Then she’ll go to the Middle East to finish the preseason and then fly to Australia on December 26.
