Emma Raducanu has garnered many endorsement deals in her nascent career, but there is perhaps one elusive sponsorship that would be most pleasing to the British No 1 women\u2019s tennis player: ambassador of the London Borough of Bromley.<\/p>\n
During a roundtable discussion with tennis journalists at the end of a gruelling yet satisfying season, Raducanu is merely attempting to describe a quiet off-season spent in her family home when she finds herself delivering a sales pitch about the benefits of living in Bromley. \u201cI\u2019m just so settled,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve barely been in the UK this year because I\u2019ve been competing so much, but I think just spending really good quality time with my parents has been so nice. I have loved just being in Bromley. It just reminds me of when I was a younger kid and it\u2019s the same bedroom, same everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cBromley has some amazing speciality coffee shops now that didn\u2019t exist a few years ago. And I\u2019ve been trying every new spot. It\u2019s been really nice, and obviously so much greenery, and it\u2019s been fun actually. I\u2019ve been commuting on the train. So I\u2019ve been part of rush hour every day, which has also been an experience. But it\u2019s like my switch off. As soon as I get on the South Western to Waterloo, I\u2019m just like: \u2018My day is done now.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The inner peace and contentment that Raducanu speaks of has been hard-earned at the end of a positive if unspectacular season when she took several steps forward. The 23-year-old rose from outside the top 60 to No 29 in 2025, her highest ranking since 2022. She played more frequently than ever this year with largely consistent results.<\/p>\n
She has also taken steps to find stability within her team, a glaring issue since the start of her career. Raducanu appears to have found a fruitful coaching partnership with the Spaniard Francisco Roig, previously a longtime member of Rafael Nadal\u2019s coaching team, and she will start the 2026 season with a new combined physiotherapist and strength and conditioning coach in Emma Stewart, an experienced professional who has worked in tennis and was most recently part of British Rowing\u2019s Olympic medal-winning setup.<\/p>\n
Emma Raducanu beat former champion Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon this year and reached the third round, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, however, the goal has been to not think about tennis. After prematurely ending her season in Asia due to illness, Raducanu devoted significant time to improving her Chinese language skills during her time visiting family in her mother\u2019s country of birth, her Spanish at the urging of Roig, and her French. \u201cI was just like: \u2018I\u2019m trying to do everything,\u2019\u201d she says, smiling. \u201cI really need rest days from my rest days. It\u2019s actually quite consuming.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the 2021 US Open champion describes her language learning odyssey, a member of her team interjects to note that he now receives texts from her in French, even though he does not speak the language. \u201cIt\u2019s funny, because then I\u2019ll just start mixing languages,\u201d says Raducanu. \u201cI\u2019m saying a sentence with three different languages, and I just don\u2019t even know what I\u2019m saying. But I think it\u2019s been great for me to put my mind to something else and to be occupied and feed my brain. It\u2019s the best thing I can do for myself. And I feel like I\u2019m just in a pretty content place, just trying to become a better version off the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma Raducanu is about to embark on pre-season training with Francisco Roig. Photograph: Robert Prange\/Getty Images<\/p>\n