Emma Raducanu raised eyebrows shortly after winning her first-ever match at the China Open, defeating Spanish star Cristina Bucsa 6-3 6-3. The former US Open champion has Chinese heritage through her mother, but had not competing in the Beijing event until Saturday, where she advanced to the third round and will take on fifth-seed Jessica Pegula.
Raducanu took just 97 minutes to brush Bucsa aside, dropping serve just once, as she claimed a comprehensive win. Her serve was very encouraging area, something that has been worked on with coach Francisco Roig, as the Brit won five straight games from 3-3 in the first set to gain control of the match.
The 22-year-old has now won her first match at 14 consecutive performances, dating back to Indian Wells in March.
But it was her post-match interview that caught the eye among local fans. They may have been aware that Raducanu has Chinese roots, but her speaking in fluent Mandarin came as quite a shock inside Lotus Court.
“I am part Chinese so it is great to come back here,” Raducanu first said in English.
She then said a sentence in Mandarin and received a huge cheer from the adoring crowd in Beijing.
The interviewer then switched their line of questioning from English to Mandarin, in recognition of Raducanu’s abilities, who began getting loud signs of approval and shouts, with fans impressed by her understanding of the language.
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Raducanu spoke for well over a minute in Mandarin and enjoyed a back-and-forth with the crowd, as she laughed before leaving the court to loud cheers.
She also added: “This is my first time here in China, so very happy to have got through it, and after a tough one last week, to come back and bounce back.”
Her mother, Renee, is from Shenyang and she made a rare appearance at one of Raducanu’s matches, as her daughter improved her chances of securing a seeding at the Australian Open in January.
Four years ago, Raducanu said that her mother’s origins gave her self-belief, telling Vogue: “I think the confidence comes from just inner belief.
“My mum comes from a Chinese background, they have very good self-belief. It’s not necessarily about telling everyone how good you are, but it’s about believing it within yourself. I really respect that about the culture.
“My mom has always instilled a lot of the qualities, like discipline and respect for other people, into me, so I think having parents like I do, they always push me, they have high expectations, so I’ve always tried to live up to that
“I would say I take a big part of my inspiration from her. She always shows me by example what ‘hard work’ means.”