Emma Raducanu cheered for her friend Francesca Jones all the way from Abu Dhabi while trying to get access to the match. Her hunt ended when she realized Jones had won her match.
Raducanu is currently gearing up for her campaign at the Abu Dhabi Open. The Brit was initially given a qualifying wildcard, which was eventually upgraded to a main draw wildcard due to some withdrawals towards the end. Despite her busy schedule, the 22-year-old wanted to cheer for her friend, who is currently competing at the 2025 Winners Open in Cluj-Napoca.
Raducanu wanted to know where she could watch her friend’s match and found an amusing solution, which was to ask her fans on social media,
“How do I watch cluj wta quali,” she questioned.
Funnily, her quest for access to the match came to a quick end when she realized that Jones had won her match. Jones staged an impressive win against ninth seed Dalma Galfi by coming back from a set down 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3.
“It’s okay Fran (Jones) won!”
The two women were part of Team Great Britain during the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers, where they became close friends. Both women also shared a light moment of banter on social media when Raducanu shared some pictures from her pre-season training session. Speaking on their friendship, the 22-year-old said in June 2024 (via The Independent):
“She’s very fun. I think we’re quite similar in the way that we think. We both have a lot of interests outside of tennis and our conversations aren’t just about tennis, which is always nice and always refreshing.”
After watching her friend’s win, Raducanu will switch her complete focus to her campaign in Abu Dhabi as she faces a fellow Grand Slam champion in the opening round.
Leave a Reply