Advertisement

'How could you': Fans erupt over detail in photo of Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu, pictured here wearing a Tottenham Hotspur kit during practice for the Stuttgart Open.
Emma Raducanu wore a Tottenham Hotspur kit during practice for the Stuttgart Open. Image: Getty

Fans have playfully taken aim at Emma Raducanu after the British tennis phenom revealed she's a Tottenham Hotspur fan.

Raducanu wore a Tottenham jersey with her name on the back as she hit the practice court ahead of the Stuttgart Open on Monday.

'INCREDIBLE': Stefanos Tsitsipas matches rare Rafa Nadal feat

HUGE: Hidden $100 million sting in Ash Barty's retirement

Social media has been abuzz with photos and videos of the 19-year-old US Open champion training in the Spurs jersey.

Trainer Will Herbert took to social media, writing: "@spursofficial Our work is done.

"Emma Raducanu has been baptised a Spurs fan. Hopefully we both pick up some trophies now!"

Arsenal fan Piers Morgan was one of several fans to feel aggrieved, with Arsenal and Tottenham the fiercest of rivals in the Premier League.

"Oh Emma Raducanu - how could you?" he wrote alongside a photo of Raducanu.

Fellow British tennis player Katie Swan added: "Oh no how did we let this happen."

Raducanu was born in Toronto but raised in south-east London.

The 19-year-old said she has been heavily influenced by her team's love of Tottenham.

"My whole team basically are big Spurs fans and I feel like they're egging me on," she told reporters in Stuttgart.

"They're desperately trying to get me behind them. I don't necessarily follow football much, but I feel like now, because of them, I'm feeling some sort of connection.

"I loved following the Euros last year and watching Harry Kane, who's obviously the England captain, and Son (Heung-min), I'm a big fan of him as well.

"So yeah, I like to dabble."

Emma Raducanu, pictured here wearing a Tottenham Hotspur kit during practice ahead of the Stuttgart Open.
Emma Raducanu wears a Tottenham Hotspur kit during practice ahead of the Stuttgart Open. (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images)

Emma Raducanu keen to make statement on clay

Raducanu will kick off her first official WTA tournament on clay on Wednesday against Australia's Storm Sanders.

The US Open champion said she's keen to make a statement on a surface that she believes will be her strongest in the long term.

"It's going to be an exciting clay season," she said.

"I'm not sure how it is going to go. I keep telling everyone around me that one day clay is going to be my surface and I still believe that.

"I think game-wise on clay, especially when you're playing outside, you definitely need to be a lot more patient and build the point.

Emma Raducanu, pictured here speaking to the media at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Emma Raducanu speaks to the media at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images)

"You can't just hit a big shot, whereas on a hard court, you might be able to get a weak shot straight away. You really need to build the point a lot more, which takes a lot more energy and physical demand.

"You just have to be more crafty, I think, and I think it's a good lesson, especially for someone younger like me, to develop more skills.

"I'm looking forward to spending more time on the clay as the years go by because I do like sliding and moving on it, and it's just about again being able to repeat over and over."

Raducanu is coming off a disappointing showing at the Billie Jean King Cup in which she lost 6-1 6-1 to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

Raducanu dealt with blisters on her right foot and was hampered throughout the match, before the Czechs clinched the tie 3-2 over Great Britain.

Harriet Dart levelled the tie at 2-2 with a 6-0 5-7 6-2 win over 16-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, but the Czech Republic clinched their spot in the finals after Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova beat Dart and Katie Swan 6-1 7-5 in the deciding doubles rubber.

with agencies

Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.