Kent teenager Emma Raducanu shortlisted for 2021 Sports Personality of the Year award
Published: 13:23, 13 December 2021
Updated: 15:09, 13 December 2021
Teenager Emma Raducanu has been nominated for the 2021 Sports Personality of the Year award.
The 19-year-old, from Orpington, shot to fame as she became the US Open women's singles champion in September.
But on a dramatic day, she has also now withdrawn from the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi after she tested positive for Covid-19.
The British number one says she's isolating as per the rules and will, hopefully, be able to get on the court soon.
In the US Open final, she had beaten Canadian Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 to win her first-ever Grand Slam in New York – without dropping a set in the entire tournament.
Raducanu was also the first qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title.
In the summer, while awaiting her A-level results, she had emerged at Wimbledon, defying her ranking to reach the fourth round before retiring from her last-16 match after suffering breathing difficulties.
Raducanu is on a six-strong shortlist which has been announced for the prestigious award and she is the big favourite.
But despite her new-found fame, she insists not a lot has changed.
“I’m still going about my business,” she told tennis pundit Andrew Castle. “I’m still taking the train and doing the same journeys.
“I feel like the exact same person and go about everything I used to do. I don’t see why I should change things.
“I’ve been a bit busy lately so I haven’t been able to hang out with my friends as much, but it’s just nice to have those conversations and go to the same places that you used to go.
“And I have my parents – who were telling me off yesterday morning, big time.”
The other nominees are diver Tom Daley, boxer Tyson Fury, swimmer Adam Peaty, footballer Raheem Sterling and Paralympic cyclist Dame Sarah Storey.
Voting will be open during the show this Sunday, with the winner being decided by the public.
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Thomas Reeves