Emma Raducanu has revealed she thinks Novak Djokovic is the greatest tennis player of all time, while naming Roger Federer as her favourite to watch.
The 2021 US Open champion also divulged which tennis venue is the best to play at, as well as picking her favourite Grand Slam tournament.
Raducanu will begin her campaign at the 2024 US Open against world No 54 and 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin. It will be the Brit’s first encounter with the 25-year-old American.
The 21-year-old last played almost a month ago at the Citi DC Open WTA 500 tournament in Washington, where she reached the quarter-finals before losing to Paula Badosa.
The world No 72 is making her third appearance at the US Open, having stunned the tennis world to win the title on her debut in New York as a qualifier in 2021.
Raducanu lost in the first round of her US Open title defence in 2022 and missed the 2023 edition of the hard-court major through injury.
Emma Raducanu News
In an interview for the Sky Sports Editions series, Raducanu explained why she considers Djokovic to be the sport’s GOAT, before singling out Federer as her favourite player to watch
“In my opinion, the tennis GOAT is Novak Djokovic for pure, just repeatable quality,” Raducanu said. “But I think my favourite to watch is Roger Federer.
“He (Federer) resembles grace, class, elegance, timelessness — all of the above.”
Raducanu picked Wimbledon’s All England Club as her favourite venue to play at, while naming the US Open her favourite major.
“The best venue to play at, in my opinion, is Wimbledon. It’s my favourite tournament and the one that I want to win the most,” she said.
“I would say my favourite major is the US Open because I have such special memories from that place and it’s also on my favourite surface, I love hard courts.”
The former world No 10 also discussed her growth as a player and expressed that she has recently rediscovered her spark.
“I’ve been playing a lot freer in the last month, I’ve been expressing myself and I’ve been fighting, there’s been a lot of passion and I’ve been feisty,” said the 21-year-old.
“I just feel a real fire back and a desire. That is me, I’m really tenacious and gritty, and I feel like I’ve got my spark back which is what I’m most pleased about.”