British tennis star Emma Raducanu has stunned Wimbledon reporters and tennis fans by answering questions in Mandarin in her post-game press conference.
The former US Open winner crashed out of the second round of the grass tournament with a defeat to French player Caroline Garcia.
However, despite her Grand Slam loss, she seemed in high spirits when talking to reporters and even surprised many when she switched from speaking English.
A reporter from Shanghai Sports Radio asked if she could ask her question in Chinese, to which Raducanu laughed and replied: “We’ll see, we’ll test it out.”
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Raducanu proceeds to smile as she replies in Mandarin, while other English-speaking supporters watched on.
At the end, she asks: “How was it? Did you guys understand that?”
One fan tweeted: “It’s really cute. I gave @EmmaRaducanu a solid 7 in answering questions in Mandarin. Could tell she’s speaking with an English grammar mindset, but vocabulary and pronunciation are good, with northeastern dialect.
“Most funny part, all UK reporters didn’t understand a damn thing.”
Raducanu shot to fame after becoming the first British woman to win a Grand Slam title since 1977 when she won the US Open at just 18 years of age.
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If her tennis skills weren’t enough, her ability to speak Chinese, Romanian, as well as English makes her an incredibly global star.
Her Wimbledon press conference wasn’t even the first time she’s shocked the world with her bilingualism.
Last year, she lapped up praise from Chinese fans when she posted a video on the Chinese social media platform Weibo thanking her supporters in perfect Mandarin.
She later impressed again when featuring in the Tennis Channel’s Warm and Fuzzy before the Australian Open when she quipped a joke in Mandarin after being asked by host Michael Kosta to showcase her talents.
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She replied: “Hi Michael, I don’t like your socks.”
As for her tennis ability, the skies are the limit, and while she has been knocked out early on at Wimbledon she’s not letting the defeat get to her.
She told reporters: “There’s no pressure. Like, why is there any pressure? I’m still 19. Like, it’s a joke. I literally won a slam.
“Yes, I have had attention. But I’m a slam champion, so no one’s going to take that away from me. Yeah, if anything, the pressure is on those who haven’t done that.”
Topics: Emma Raducanu, Tennis, Wimbledon
Jayden Collins