China ties run deep for Raducanu

Without a doubt, the world is witnessing a superstar in the making. Raducanu's entertaining style of play, marketable looks, engaging personality and mixed heritage all combine to make her a golden branding package, according to sports marketing experts.

"Tennis is a very popular sport, and as a female from a multicultural background that ticks a lot of boxes. She could be very successful commercially," Liu Lingling, managing director of Beijing-based China Sport Business Consulting, told inews.com.uk.

Liu reckons that Raducanu could be the first British sports star to truly make it big in China, especially considering she is represented by experienced IMG agent Max Eisenbud, who has previously worked with China's two-time major winner Li Na, an idol of Raducanu's.

Raducanu's popularity on social media has taken off with her Instagram followers rocketing to over 2 million, up from about 400,000 before the US Open.

A video of Raducanu addressing her Chinese fans in Mandarin went viral on her newly launched Weibo account, gaining 1.67 million views in the first eight hours of being posted.

Raducanu, who is a regular visitor to her mother's home city of Shenyang, Liaoning province, has been keen to stress her pride in her Chinese roots.

"I am a 'Dongbei girl' because my mom comes from Dongbei, the northeastern part of China," Raducanu said during the Zoom call with China Daily. "I went to China to see my family members, especially my grandma quite often. Thanks for everyone's support there and I am sure that I will go back to playing tournaments in China next year."

During the US Open, Raducanu revealed that the mental toughness she admires from her mother's family played a big part in carrying her through her astonishing title run.

"They are so mentally resilient, it's like nothing can bring them down. I would say I take a big part of my inspiration from her," she said.

With quarantine still mandatory for international travelers coming to China, the Women's Tennis Association has canceled, or removed, all of its tour-level events originally scheduled for this fall in China, including the prestigious season-ending WTA Finals, for a second straight year.

Should the China swing resume next year, Raducanu is expected to meet her idol Li, who congratulated the British teen following her US Open victory through IMG.

"It means a lot to receive a message from Li Na because she is one of my role models that I watched growing up, and I really tried to copy some of the parts of her game and use them myself," said Raducanu, who boasts a similarly lethal backhand to Li's. "I loved her mental strength and her physicality and how aggressive she was."