Emma Raducanu follows advice of 15-year-old self to 'persevere when faced with adversity'

Just three years ago, a younger Emma Raducanu was filmed telling aspiring tennis stars to "persevere even when faced with a lot of adversity" and that is just what the US Open champion appears to have done, becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Speaking in the year she became British junior number one and also won her first pro-circuit title in Israel, the then 15-year-old said her advice to aspiring children would be "to persevere even when faced with a lot of adversity because myself, I was faced with quite a lot of challenges growing up but I'm still developing and I'm developing quite well."

Three years later, the now 18-year-old made the fourth round of Wimbledon just weeks after finishing her A-levels, before going on to greater success at Flushing Meadows.

Also in the clip, Raducanu cites her greatest achievement as winning ITF $15k title at an event in Israel in May 2018 – in 4C5 degree heat without dropping a set to become the youngest player that year to reach an ITF final.

She also cites her favourite court surface as hard and cites former world number two Li Na as her inspiration "because of her ball strike and intensity and also her mentality, it's quite ruthless".

Raducanu's mentality was also praised during her US Open winning streak - in which she did not drop a set - for her mentality and composure, appearing unflappable and smiling throughout the tournament.

The US Open wasn't Raducanu's only crown in recent weeks.

While her daughter was battling her way to the Grand Slam final, 3,500 miles away Raducanu's mother Renee last week collected her Kent Player of the Year award at her club of Sundridge Park in Bromley.

Tough Covid-19 restrictions in the US meant neither of Raducanu's parents were able to travel to the US to watch her pull off arguably the biggest win of her career.