Emma Raducanu was heavily under the spotlight after making history at the US Open in 2021.
Raducanu beat Leylah Fernandez to win the US Open in 2021, becoming the first qualifier in history to win a major title.
The Briton faced a lot of pressure after becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since Virginia Wade’s Wimbledon victory in 1977.
While Raducanu received a lot of backlash for some of her decisions during this time, seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton gave her some advice that appeared to help her.
The advice Lewis Hamilton gave Emma Raducanu after she won the US Open
After a meteoric rise up the rankings following becoming a Grand Slam champion, a lot of attention was on Raducanu for her next tournaments.
However, Raducanu appeared to struggle with this pressure initially and won only two of her five remaining matches in the 2021 season.
However, after playing an exhibition match at the Royal Albert Hall, Raducanu revealed the advice that Hamilton gave her when they spoke at the Met Gala.
Hamilton knows what it is like to be under the spotlight as a British sporting star from a young age, and Raducanu explained that she found this advice reassuring.
“I met [Hamilton] in person at the Met Gala and we had a really good conversation there, and since then I’ve been looking up to him, following him, and supporting him… but it’s cool – whenever we meet, it’s really cool,” Raducanu, who is also a big fan of motorsports, said as reported by formulaone.com.
“He said: ‘Be patient, you know, you’ve just got to ride the wave. It’s all good, don’t worry’ – good reassurance. He’s a really cool guy… [He’s] been such a good role model for me in terms of helping me out through the next stages.”
The award Emma Raducanu was nominated for but was rooting for Lewis Hamilton instead
While Raducanu was full of admiration for Hamilton and appreciative of what he had said to her, she was actually up against him for a big award in 2021.
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award is a hugely prestigious award that is handed out every year, and Lewis Hamilton had already won it in 2014 and 2020.
Despite being shortlisted for the award for the first time, Raducanu admitted that she did not think she had any chance and was instead rooting for Hamilton to win it for a third time.
“I just don’t even think about it. For me, it’s something that’s so far out of the realms of possibility… No, definitely not,” said Raducanu. “I am rooting for Lewis in the race [for Sports Personality].”
Raducanu should have believed in herself more, as she became the first woman to win the Sports Personality of the Year Award in 15 years.
Hamilton was not actually in the top six of the shortlist for the award that year, but still stands in the history books as one of the only sports people to win the gong more than once.
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