Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge meets US Open Champion Emma Raducanu at the LTA Centre in Roehampton, London, Britain, September 24, 2021. Jeremy Selwyn/Pool via REUTERS
LONDON – British royal Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, joined Britain’s new queen of tennis Emma Raducanu on court on Friday to celebrate the newly crowned US Open Champion’s achievement.
Raducanu, 18, shot to fame this month after she became Britain’s first female Grand Slam champion in 44 years.
She joined forces with Kate, wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince William, for a game of doubles at a special event to celebrate Britain’s new tennis champions.
Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid, who won the men’s wheelchair doubles at the U.S. Open, and Joe Salisbury, who won the men’s doubles, also met the duchess.
A keen tennis player herself, Kate called the players’ victories “amazing” as she showed off her forehand in a navy tennis outfit for the knock-up at Britain’s National Tennis Centre in southwest London.
She is the patron of the Lawn Tennis Association and often seen in the royal box at Wimbledon.
Raducanu’s win, a fairytale run from the qualifying rounds to the U.S. Open, was saluted by Queen Elizabeth.