WATCH: Emma Raducanu fulfills young fan's request in adorable moment at Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2022
Emma Raducanu made a young fan's wish come true by obliging an adorable request on the sidelines of the 2022 Mubadala World Tennis Championship.
The Briton superstar is among the fan favorites in most places she visits and it was no different in Abu Dhabi. Fans waited in huge numbers to greet her as she walked onto the grounds of the International Tennis Centre on Friday.
Among the crowd was a kid holding up a poster, politely requesting Raducanu for a picture. A beaming Raducanu made the little fan's day by rushing to her and posing for a quick photo.
Later on Friday night, Raducanu competed against Ons Jabeur in her first match in more than two months, albeit in an exhibition contest. The 20-year-old's performance had positive signs despite a narrow 7-5, 3-6, 8-10 loss to the current World No. 2. Raducanu ended her 2022 season in early October after she was forced to withdraw from back-to-back events with a nagging wrist injury.
Despite Friday's loss to Jabeur, the Brit was upbeat as she was finally able to compete and also put the disappointment of "last year's shocker" at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship behind her. Just three days before her exhibition match last year, the Briton player tested positive for COVID-19.
Speaking after her match, she said she was glad to be able to leave her hotel room during her Mubadala WTC campaign this year.
"I'm so glad this year I was able to make it out of the hotel room. Last year, I had a bit of a shocker. Amazing to play here in front of all of you, this is Ons’ house so thank you for having me," Emma Raducanu said.
"I’ve just been building in the gym, started getting back on court recently in the last two weeks, so I'm glad to be making some progressions and looking forward to 2023," she added.
Emma Raducanu appoints new coach who previously worked with Victoria Azarenka and Belinda Bencic
Emma Raducanu has appointed Sebastian Sachs as her new coach ahead of the 2023 season starting next month. Sachs, who has previously worked with Victoria Azarenka and Belinda Bencic, among others, is Raducanu's fifth coach in 18 months. Sachs was Bencic's coach when she made it into the WTA top 10 and also during her dream run to the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo last year.
Dmitry Tursunov was the 2021 US Open champion Raducanu's last coach. They decided to part ways after this year's US Open. Raducanu has also previously worked with Torben Beltz.
The England native ended the 2022 season at No. 76 in the WTA rankings and will now aim to make it back into the top 10 after making her top-10 debut earlier this year.