AN INTRODUCTION
Emma Raducanu is a 22 year old British professional tennis player, currently ranked # 1 in British women’s singles. At age 18, she reached the 4th round at Wimbledon, though outside the world’s top 300. She then followed this by qualifying for the 2021 U.S. Open and winning the title without dropping a set throughout the tournament.
Emma thus became the first British women to win a major (Grand Slam) title since Virginia Wade in 1977. No one before Emma had ever won a Grand Slam title with only one prior major tournament entry. She was ranked #10 in the world in 2022, dropping to a current world ranking of # 35.
She had experienced wrist and ankle injuries, resulting in surgeries. At this point, she is trying her best to come back to her previous form. She is winning matches and losing matches, grinding through disappointments and maintaining her rigorous practice sessions and fitness routines.
Emma was born in Toronto, Canada to a Romanian father and Chinese mother. The family moved to Bromley, England when she was two years of age. She is fluent in English, Romanian and Mandarin. She began playing tennis at age 5, while also participating in basketball, golf, skiing , horse riding and ballet.
Emma’s playing style is primarily baseline aggression. She hits the ball early, crosscourt or down the line. Her rally points show us exceptional footwork, speed and court coverage. Her two-handed backhand seems better than her forehand, which is strong but sometimes volatile. Her service motion is beautiful, with a consistent ball toss and deep racquet head drop. (It looks exactly like the motion my college tennis coach wanted me to develop. He and I were not entirely successful, but at least I can see what he wanted by watching Emma’s motion).
Here is Emma’s perfect service motion.
Emma (in black) shows us elite ball striking here.
Take a look at Emma off court in this one minute video.
EMMA’S FITNESS ROUTINE
Emma is 5’9″ tall, at 115 pounds, in great shape. Her on-court practice sessions are often twice per day and include:
- Groundstokes. Forehands and backhands from different court positions, cross-court and down the line
- Volleys and overheads. Practicing smashes and volleys to improve her net game.
- Return of serve. To develop quick reactions and accuracy.
- Footwork and agility. Concentrating on explosive tennis movements – quick acceleration, precise deceleration and recovery for the next shot.
Emma’s strength and conditioning routines include:
- Heavy lifting and plyometrics. Squats, lunges and plyometric jump squats to build leg power and endurance.
- HIIT. High intensity interval training – running and sprinting – to build indurance and recovery time between points.
- Core stability. This video will show us how she develops her core and avoids the injuries that plagued her for several years.
Emma’s favorite fitness routine is hot yoga. This gives her more strength in hot weather matches. Even when suffering from injuries, she would do low-impact hot yoga to increase her lung capacity and flexibility.
EMMA’S NUTRITION
In her own words “I snack a lot – before and during training especially. I need high-sugar and quickly digested snacks to keep me going. I love fruits, nuts, yoghurt, chocolate rice cakes, crunchy nut butters, granola, popcorn and healthy bars – that kind of thing.
“Planning my meals is also vital for two reasons; firstly I am a huge foodie and the type of person that looks forward to my next meal as I’m having the current one! Secondly, because during long, intense sessions I need to maintain focus and energy”.
Emma’s diet centers on intuitive eating, focusing on nourishment and balance rather than lots of restrictions. She goes for lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats.
A more detailed breakdown:
- Lean proteins – chicken, fish, tofu
- Complex carbohydrates – quinoa and sweet potatoes
- Healthy fats – acocado, olive oil
- Hydration – 3 liters of water daily and elctrolytes after workouts
- Snacking – usually fruits and nuts
- Post-match meals – steak, pasta, protein shakes, salads
AFFILIATE MARKETING
This is the process by which an affiliate earns commissions by promoting a company’s products. In my case, this normally includes an article on fitness training, such as this one. My upper menu includes information on this business opportunity. See BECOME AN AFFILIATE MARKETER for details.
The diagram below will also show a very simplified description of this:
My prior efforts have included articles on these tennis pros:
Carlos Alcaraz – more about him later
AMAZON
I can always count on one affiliated company for top notch service, fair prices and just about anything we may need quickly, Amazon of course.
Here are a few links to items of interest that are relevant to the fitness training or nutrition of Emma Raducanu. Each link will include pictures, details, prices and suggestions for other similar or complementary items.
Emma Raducanu: When Tennis Came Home (hardcover)
Emma Raducanu: The “Lone Wolf” Who Built a Million – Pound Tennis Empire
Hot Stone Restorative Yoga (paperback)
Evian water (promoted by Emma)
Small medicine ball – used by Emma for core training
Kettlebell – used by Emma for shoulder training
FINAL THOUGHTS
The U.S. Open has begun and I want to see Emma do well as she continues her recovery from past injuries. She has received a huge dose of publicity as she has developed a strong friendship with her mixed doubles partner, Carlos Alcaraz. There are even suggestions that they have a blooming romance going on.
For this reason, their first round mixed doubles match was heavily publicized and attended, though they lost. This is no setback for either Carlos or Emma, since they are more interested in advancing in singles. But since they are both 22 and single, they have captured lots of attention and gossip.
I’m not sure that Emma relishes such public interest in her personal life. She is a celebrity and quite beautiful, so the attention is inevitable. She can handle it and so can Carlos, whatever the end result.
Let’s show appreciation for Emma as she continues her comeback. She has worked hard to dispel any notion that she was capable of only one Grand Slam win. Remember – she is only 22!
