Emma Raducanu is desperately seeking an Australian Open fan so she can invite him to all her matches after he gave her a huge boost during her opening-round win at Melbourne Park on Sunday night.
The British star beat Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1 after a less-than-ideal preparation for the Grand Slam that saw her hampered by a foot injury as she was dumped out of two warm-up tournaments in disappointing fashion.
But Raducanu breezed through her first match with more than a little help from the outspoken fan, who kept shouting encouragement from the stands and gave her a new and very Aussie nickname.
After match point, the 23-year-old singled out her new admirer as she was being interviewed.
‘Thank you to the support, I think it was incredible on both sides, and a particular shout-out to “Raddo” apparently is my new nickname,’ she said while pointing to a man dressed in a green and gold singlet with ‘Australia’ emblazoned on it.
‘You’re invited for every match, just let me know, let my agent know, and you’re here!’
Pictured: Emma Raducanu waves to the fan who nicknamed her ‘Raddo’ at the Australian Open on Sunday night
The British star is trying to get in contact with her new No.1 fan (pictured)
‘He can come to any match. I just need to try to locate him. I hope he comes back,’ Raducanu said after beating Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4 6-1
Raducanu pointed at the fan while laughing along with the rest of the crowd, as he yelled more encouragement in return – and she kept talking about him after leaving the court.
‘I loved the support,’ she said.
‘To have that on my side in the big moments, it was a good spur of encouragement.
‘He can come to any match. I just need to try to locate him. I hope he comes back.’
The 2021 US Open champion will now face Anastasia Potapova in the second round in Melbourne.
Raducanu had been very critical of her match schedule at the Open after she was given the late-night slot after a men’s singles clash on Sunday.
She only had one day to prepare at Melbourne Park after playing in a tournament in Tasmania on Thursday before her flight was delayed.
Her only training session before the clash with Sawangkaew finished at 11pm.
Raducanu’s Aussie admirer kept shouting encouragement even when she was being interviewed after the match
The 23-year-old was in good form despite having a very rough lead-up to the Open
‘I feel very happy to have gone through that match from the beginning,’ Raducanu said.
‘I felt like [Sawangkaew] was playing incredibly well so I’m really proud of how I fought back in the first set.
‘She’s playing some incredible tennis, playing way higher than her ranking is currently, and I’m sure she’s going to do good things this year.’
On the late start, she added: ‘The preparation started yesterday. I booked a court for 9.15 to 11.15pm. It was the latest I’ve ever practised, just to get used to it – it is completely different to the day.
‘It’s a lot slower, it’s colder, the ball doesn’t travel as much through the air.’
Raducanu’s foot injury has robbed her of significant time on the court, but she sounded hopeful about her recovery ahead of the match on Sunday night.
‘It’s definitely a lot better,’ she said.
‘I’ve been having to manage it for the last few months but I’m really happy with the progress that I’ve made this year.
‘I came out to Australia not knowing how it would go and now I’m in a much better place and just improving day by day.
‘I could easily get frustrated about not having the preseason that I wanted.
‘I started training very, very late on, tennis-wise, so because of that I feel like I need to kind of take the pressure off myself and not put too much pressure on and expect to be playing amazing tennis.’
