Emma Raducanu reveals her "biggest goal" is to build "robustness physically", says Lewis Hamilton has been "a good role model" for her

Speaking after her win at the Champions Tennis exhibition event at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, Emma Raducanu revealed that Lewis Hamilton has been a "good role model" for her in recent months.

Raducanu, who defeated Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 7-6 in the match, also highlighted her goals for next season, revealing that she plans to enhance her muscle mass.

After her win, Raducanu was asked on-court if she considers herself the favorite to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. The teenager answered in the negative before championing Lewis Hamilton's name for the prize.

Raducanu revealed that the F1 racer has been offering her invaluable input ever since she won the US Open.

"No, definitely not, I'm rooting for Lewis… he's been such a good role model for me in terms of helping me through these next stages," Emma Raducanu said. "He’s a really cool person."

The reigning US Open champion plans to spend Christmas training in the Middle East, preparing herself for the Australian Open.

During her on-court speech, Emma Raducanu asserted that she is keen to keep improving while also reflecting on her development.

"My expectations for myself are just to keep improving. I want to look back at the end of the year and see that I made gains in any sort of area," Raducanu said.

According to the British player, she needs to be patient and more consistent to achieve her goals in tennis. Raducanu also revealed that she plans to bulk up physically.

"I know that for me, it's going to take a lot of patience to get to where I want to be, and smooth out that consistency," Raducanu said. "So I think that's probably the biggest goal – it's just building my robustness physically."

"It will be a cool experience to play a full schedule": Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu made her WTA main-draw debut at the Nottingham Open during this year's grasscourt season. She proceeded to play at Wimbledon before going on to win the US Open as a qualifier.

However, 2022 shall be Raducanu's first complete season on tour, a fact she highlighted during the conversation. She expressed her desire to keep learning, citing how age is on her side.

"It'll be my first calendar year on the WTA Tour, so it will be a cool experience to play a full schedule," Emma Raducanu said. "I'm just looking forward to learning. I'm still quite young, so I’ll learn and get better."

Raducanu heaped praise on the crowd present at the Royal Albert Hall, which was incidentally the first time she stepped onto a British court after her US Open win.

“It was amazing to play at home in front of everyone here," Emma Raducanu said. "I felt it from the moment I walked out. It was an incredible atmosphere and I really enjoyed playing here.”