2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu admitted she loves motorsport but made it clear she is a “very safe and pretty decent driver.”
Raducanu, who is widely regarded as one of the most talented and promising players on the WTA Tour, last December revealed she might get herself a motorbike license.Â
‟I think it is a very cool activity and I love the feeling of going fast and racing. The extreme accelerating and the hard braking, but I’m also interested in the mechanics and engineering,” Raducanu told the Porsche Tennis tournament website.
Raducanu, 19, came into touch with motorsports for the first time when she was six.Â
‟I started early as a 6-year-old girl going karting and it made me feel different from other girls and boys in a very special and positive way. Much cooler. I had so much fun once I started to get good and confident at it. Later motocross was a step up in challenge from go karting. But also lots of fun as let’s be honest, which kid doesn’t like getting dirty in the mud?”
Raducanu on the difference between tennis, motorsport
‟Motorsport is about continual improvement. It’s what I love. And it bears similarities to tennis. On court, you also have to always be concentrated and have to react instinctively to new situations and find quick solutions. One invests lots of time and effort preparing and practicing for marginal gains. But the differences in motorsports are far more minmal than in tennis as we’re talking about milliseconds and seconds. And there’s another difference, the consequences in tennis are not so serious when you make a mistake.”
Raducanu admitted she enjoys going fast, but only when permitted.Â
‟I would say I am a very safe and pretty decent driver who enjoys going fast when permitted. When I’m back home, I drive 3 hours a day to train. On my travels I don’t get to drive very often as I’m still too young for car rentals,” Raducanu explained.