Judy Murray calls Emma Raducanu a "role model" for young girls, says her US Open triumph will help British tennis flourish
Emma Raducanu's improbable title run at the 2021 US Open ended Great Britain's 44-year-long wait for a women's singles champion at a Major. The youngster's win has made her a star in her home country, with members of the British tennis fraternity lauding her exploits.
Judy Murray, mother of three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, was the latest to heap praise on the 18-year-old. During an interaction with the BBC in Aberdeen, Judy described Raducanu as a "role model" for young female players.
She also said Raducanu's achievement could help the sport flourish at grassroots level.
"It was an incredible success,” Judy Murray said. “It really came out of nowhere, and it will provide a massive inspiration. I think for grassroots tennis to grow, and especially for girls’ tennis, to have a teen role model, it couldn’t be better for getting more girls involved in playing the game.”
Murray, who was a non-playing member of Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup side between 2011-2016, believes British tennis must capitalize on Raducanu's success and help raise the profile of the sport.
"We’re hoping lots of the girls that are here today at Mile End Primary will be inspired by what she did and want to play our wonderful sport," Murray continued.
“We have to take advantage of the massive opportunity that Emma's success and her profile and the excitement that that has brought," she added.
"Now should be an opportunity to try to make sure it's not another huge wait" - Andy Murray wants British tennis to build on Emma Raducanu's success
Earlier this week, Andy Murray called on Britain's tennis federations to make the sport more "accessible" to the masses.
Murray said that being the host of the biggest tennis tournament in the world (the Wimbledon Championships), Britain should not have had to wait so long for Grand Slam success. According to the two-time Wimbledon champion, children are discouraged from taking up tennis as it is perceived to be a "rich man's sport".
"For a country that hosts the biggest tennis tournament in the world and certainly not lacking in money, that's not really good enough," Andy Murray said. “Now should be an opportunity to try to make sure it's not another huge wait. They need to try to take the opportunity.”
"One of the images that tennis has had over the years has just been that it’s not accessible enough," he added. “If your image is that - that it’s a rich person’s sport and it’s too expensive to play – I’m sure that that potentially puts people off, maybe parents as well getting their kids into it.”