Emma Raducanu meets with England star David Beckham in Qatar, watches Lionel Messi lead Argentina to glory at FIFA World Cup
Emma Raducanu was in attendance during the FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France in Lusail, Qatar.
The 20-year-old recently competed at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi where she lost 5-7, 6-3 10-8 to Ons Jabeur. She then traveled to Qatar to attend the World Cup final.
She met compatriot David Beckham during the final, posing with the legendary footballer and brand ambassador of this year's tournament for a photo. Bekham has openly been a fan of Raducanu for some time now, posting about her on his social media several times since her historic US Open win in 2021. He shared the picture of himself with Raducanu during match on his Instagram story.
"@emmaraducanu, so good to see you. What a game," Beckham captioned his Instagram story.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France turned out to be a thrilling encounter, Argentina edging out France 4-2 on penalties to win their third World Cup crown.
Emma Raducanu reveals her aim for 2023
Emma Raducanu recently said that her goal in 2023 was to win a title. She stated that one of her biggest goals was to walk out on the court without worrying about her fitness.
"One of my biggest goals is to – it might not come this year, but to go out on the court and not think about my fitness, not think about, Oh, like start the timer, I've got 60 minutes to finish this match. I want to be able to go out there and just focus on the tennis. I think this year I'm in a better position but it's still going to take some time to develop fully. I think my goal in 2023 is probably to win a title," Emma Raducanu said.
She added:
"I really obviously want to work hard, try to get back on court as much as possible but I could overdo it if I didn't really think it through because I want to be back on court so much. I just need to maybe cut down a little bit on the hours sometimes."
The 20-year-old had a disappointing 2022 season, during which she won only 17 out of 36 matches. Her best performance was reaching the semifinals of the Korea Open, where she was forced to retire against Jelena Ostapenko due to injury.
Raducanu entered the Top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career in July 2022, but has suffered a huge drop since bowing out in the first round of the US Open. She is currently ranked 80th in the world.