"Breakthrough of the Year": Big award for Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu was awarded the Laureus for "Breakthrough of the Year" on Sunday.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Apr 26, 2022, 01:27 pm
Great honor for Emma Raducanu : The 19-year-old received the award for "Breakthrough of the Year" 2021 at the renowned Laureus Awards. The Brit surprisingly won the US Open as a qualifier in September. Among other things, Raducanu prevailed in the vote against Daniil Medvedev.
"It means so much to me to receive this award and I really want to congratulate the other nominees. I feel like it's been a really great year for me, but I still have a lot of work to do," said Raducanu, which is currently eleventh in the world rankings.
This should not be the end of the road for the teenager. A good omen for Raducanu: all previous winners from tennis reached number one in the world and won several Grand Slam tournaments. Before her, Marat Safin, Rafael Nadal, Amelie Mauresmo, Andy Murray and Naomi Osaka had been awarded the Laureus for "Breakthrough of the Year".
Athlete of the Year was Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen, while the women's Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah triumphed. The Italian national football team was named Team of the Year.