Emma Raducanu

[Elwood Blues]

Just looked her up, don't follow Tennis much. I noticed they called her 'British' so I thought she couldn't be English. Tours out she's Canadian (by birth) but I presume she's more British than Greg Rusedski ever was.

We regard Robert Earnshaw as Welsh even though he had a Zambian mother and an English father and he didn't move to Wales until he was 9 so on that basis she can regard herself as British or English (or both of course)

[Jimmy the Jock]

We regard Robert Earnshaw as Welsh even though he had a Zambian mother and an English father and he didn't move to Wales until he was 9 so on that basis she can regard herself as British or English (or both of course)

2 wrongs dont make a right .
We do like to "adopt" people that are good at sport though.

Play for your national team because one of your grandparents had that nationality.
Play for a national team because you have lived somewhere for 7 or 8 years. Truly adopt a star.

[AfricanBluebird]

I think we need to move on from truly 'Welsh' or truly 'British' type discussions.

If she qualifies for Britain and feels like committing to Britain, then let he play.

Wales have benefitted from people in Britain who could have qualified for the home nations and picked us.

My kids qualify for Uganda and Wales (and England) - my son would choose Uganda and my girls Wales. Families are moving around more nowadays and marriages and heritages of people more and more mixed. Where someone belongs is becoming less about where that person was born. My youngest daughter was born in Cardiff but lived there for only 18 months - and yet at 14 she feels more of a connection to Cardiff than the other two.

While of course someone can't pick a random country because they played Risk or watched a youtube video, but let's give people more freedom to choose and as long as they can demonstrate a connection to the country, let them get on with it.

As for Emma, she's brilliant. Really great technique and quick around the court.

[the other bob wilson]

I think we need to move on from truly 'Welsh' or truly 'British' type discussions.

If she qualifies for Britain and feels like committing to Britain, then let he play.

Wales have benefitted from people in Britain who could have qualified for the home nations and picked us.

My kids qualify for Uganda and Wales (and England) - my son would choose Uganda and my girls Wales. Families are moving around more nowadays and marriages and heritages of people more and more mixed. Where someone belongs is becoming less about where that person was born. My youngest daughter was born in Cardiff but lived there for only 18 months - and yet at 14 she feels more of a connection to Cardiff than the other two.

While of course someone can't pick a random country because they played Risk or watched a youtube video, but let's give people more freedom to choose and as long as they can demonstrate a connection to the country, let them get on with it.

As for Emma, she's brilliant. Really great technique and quick around the court.

I agree.

Although I soon gave up on Bolton v Burton, I was switching around between football, golf (Solheim Cup) and tennis last night, but watched much of Radacanu's game. In the first couple of games Martin Navratalova was saying it was adrenalin that was making Emma hit balls a bit too long and that she should soon settle down. She was right and once that happened, it was a bit of a massacre - she is thrashing top fifty players in this tournament and the question now is has she got it in her to beat top ten players? Based on what we've seen in the past ten days or so, the answer is, almost certainly, yes.

That said, although you have players like Serena Williams who is on a par with the greats the men's game has seen over the last fifteen years or so, women's tennis during that time is a little like that Andy Warhol thing about everyone having fifteen minutes of fame. I don't pay attention to tennis enough to be sure of this, but it seems to me that there have been plenty of women players who've enjoyed a great run to win or be runner up in a Grand Slam final and then they disappear back into, relative, obscurity, so I suppose Radacanu could be another one of those - although to hear Martina talking last night, she clearly doesn't think so.

[AfricanBluebird]

I agree.

Although I soon gave up on Bolton v Burton, I was switching around between football, golf (Solheim Cup) and tennis last night, but watched much of Radacanu's game. In the first couple of games Martin Navratalova was saying it was adrenalin that was making Emma hit balls a bit too long and that she should soon settle down. She was right and once that happened, it was a bit of a massacre - she is thrashing top fifty players in this tournament and the question now is has she got it in her to beat top ten players? Based on what we've seen in the past ten days or so, the answer is, almost certainly, yes.

That said, although you have players like Serena Williams who is on a par with the greats the men's game has seen over the last fifteen years or so, women's tennis during that time is a little like that Andy Warhol thing about everyone having fifteen minutes of fame. I don't pay attention to tennis enough to be sure of this, but it seems to me that there have been plenty of women players who've enjoyed a great run to win or be runner up in a Grand Slam final and then they disappear back into, relative, obscurity, so I suppose Radacanu could be another one of those - although to hear Martina talking last night, she clearly doesn't think so.

That's a very well observed point. I do follow tennis and even play a bit. But women's tennis certainly suffers more than the mens game from women becoming prominent for a season or two and then falling down the rankings. I could go on to speculate about that and the reasons for it, but let's hope Radacanu rises and stays at the top for a long time. Navratilova is one of the most thoughtful commentators on tennis.

[Feedback]

2 wrongs dont make a right .
We do like to "adopt" people that are good at sport though.

Play for your national team because one of your grandparents had that nationality.
Play for a national team because you have lived somewhere for 7 or 8 years. Truly adopt a star.

in fairness she probably feels English/British because she's lived here during her formative years.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

in fairness she probably feels English/British because she's lived here during her formative years.

Setting aside the less that easily defined notion of nationality (as many people straddle mulitiple cultures, may have lived in several countries and their parents may have emanated from other parts of the world) is nationality that important in sports where people compete as individuals anyway?

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Setting aside the less that easily defined notion of nationality (as many people straddle mulitiple cultures, may have lived in several countries and their parents may have emanated from other parts of the world) is nationality that important in sports where people compete as individuals anyway?

that =than

[Feedback]

Setting aside the less that easily defined notion of nationality (as many people straddle mulitiple cultures, may have lived in several countries and their parents may have emanated from other parts of the world) is nationality that important in sports where people compete as individuals anyway?

probably not.

[Rjk]

Setting aside the less that easily defined notion of nationality (as many people straddle mulitiple cultures, may have lived in several countries and their parents may have emanated from other parts of the world) is nationality that important in sports where people compete as individuals anyway?

it's an interesting subject.
a large amount of the coverage and media attention she's received here is presumably because she's British.
and that will probably translate into sponsorship opportunities here that are greater than would otherwise be the case.
although her youth and metioric rise in the rankings and performances as a qualified are earning her plenty of fans at the us open it seems.

[lardy]

2 wrongs dont make a right .
We do like to "adopt" people that are good at sport though.

Play for your national team because one of your grandparents had that nationality.
Play for a national team because you have lived somewhere for 7 or 8 years. Truly adopt a star.

How is this 'adopt a star'?

The magic of her story is that she has won from nowhere. She was hardly known six months ago, when she was also competing in tournaments as a Brit.

[nugent]

How is this 'adopt a star'?

The magic of her story is that she has won from nowhere. She was hardly known six months ago, when she was also competing in tournaments as a Brit.

How many Robert Earnshaw goals did jimmy celebrate at ninian Park?
Lol.