Emma Raducanu has opened up on the rollercoaster of experiences that followed her 2021 US Open win. The 22-year-old has enjoyed a mini-resurgence this year after a difficult three seasons on the WTA Tour, during which she failed to replicate her sensational form in New York.

Raducanu became an overnight global star after becoming the first qualifier in history to win a Grand Slam event. She was duly named the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and also took a Laureus award for Breakthrough of the Year. A string of lucrative endorsements followed, while the star also attended the star-studded Met Gala in America.

She’s now admitted to showing naivety when she was in such demand. The British No.2 also claimed she’s now considerably more guarded when associating herself with parties.

“Up until I won the US Open, I was so sheltered,” she told the Daily Mail. “Up to 18, I was just with my parents. It was like nothing could touch me. And then all of a sudden, everyone came, and I got burned quite a lot of times, whether that's professionally or personally. Now I’m very Fort Knox with who I let in.”

Raducanu also has a new life plan to remain happy within herself. Just weeks before her very own ‘Fairytale of New York’, she graduated from Newstead Wood School in Orpington with impressive A-Level grades, but her tennis ambitions curtailed any thoughts of university.

However, she now plans to restart her education, saying: “I'm going to start studying more. I think I need that. I've missed it for the last few years. I need something to stimulate and engage my brain, so my entire life isn't just tennis.”

The player has yet to decide whether she will formally enrol on a course, but refused to rule out another A-level or degree, adding: “Growing up, I always had tennis as an escape from studying and studying as an escape from tennis.

“I loved studying and I still do. I love those moments on my own, quiet reading in the library, figuring things out myself. “In this life, where it's so busy and there are so many people around, it's nice to have that little retreat.”