London, England) – Last year’s US Open champion Emma Raducanu has been made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services to tennis. The 20-year-old was decorated by King Charles III in a ceremony at Windsor Castle in London on Tuesday.

Raducanu is the first British woman to win a Grand Slam in singles since Virginia Wade won on grass at Wimbledon in 1977. She is also the only tennis player to win a Grand Slam after qualifying. During her memorable campaign at the US Open last year, the young tennis player won ten matches in a row without dropping sets, overtaking Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the final.

Raducanu’s unexpected conquest of New York caused a stir. significant increase in the number of practitioners tennis in the UK. According to recent data from Spond, an amateur sports team management app with more than 1.3 million users, tennis gained around 100,000 new players in the two months since winning the British Grand Slam title. Of this number, 54% are women. The increase in the number of girls playing tennis has also been seen in clubs in different parts of the country.

Last season was far below expectations for Raducanu, who suffered numerous injuries and coaching changes. She has even worked with the German Torben Beltz and the Russian Dmitry Tursunov, in addition to having occasional collaborations with technicians from the British Tennis Association (LTA). After reaching the top 10 in June, she currently only appears in 75th place in the standings, on a season with 17 wins and 19 losses on the circuit.

Tennis player Emma Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021 aged 18, is made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by King Charles III at Windsor Castle. #Royal #inauguration #sport pic.twitter.com/sGvCvQz6Fu

— YuiMok (@YuiMok) November 29, 2022