British tennis star Emma Raducanu has shared a glimpse into her not-so-private life as she is seen being hounded by paparazzi.
Raducanu, 20, is currently taking some time away from tennis as she recovers from minor hand and ankle surgery.
The young athlete has recently undergone operations on both hands and one of her ankles, forcing her to pull out of the French Open and Wimbledon Championship this year.
She’s also not expected to recover in time for the US Open, which she miraculously won back in 2021.
The American tennis tournament takes place between Monday, August 28 and Sunday, September 10, and is celebrating 50 years of achieving equal prize money.
And although Raducanu hasn’t been totally ruled it, it is unlikely that she will recover in time to play this summer.
Despite taking leave of the court, it seems there’s no rest for the wicked as the 20-year-old has recently been mobbed by the paparazzi.
Emma Raducanu hounded by paparazzi
Last night, (Tuesday, 23 May) Raducanu shared with her 2.5 million Instagram followers that she had recently caught a British Airways flight and travelled from Mexico to London.
She then gave an insight into her shocking treatment by the media as her car was crowded by photographers.
In the short video, it looked as if Raducanu herself was behind the camera in the back seat of a stationary vehicle.
While she and an unnamed person were in the car, numerous photographers could be seen angling their cameras through the windshield, trying to get a clear shot of her.
Throughout the video, blinding lights were flashing, and the 106th-ranked tennis player could be heard laughing.
She captioned the video ‘Gracias amigos’, but her comment could well be a sarcastic dig at the invasion of her privacy.
Raducanu is routinely hounded by the press and made headlines last month when she gave a 58-word press interview ahead of the Madrid Open.
The Briton ended up withdrawing from the tournament just hours before the first round match, due to a hand injury.
She spoke last year about the “intense” attention she has received since her US Open win in 2021.
“Professionally speaking, I’m very proud of my resilience this year,” Raducanu told SheerLuxe. “I’ve faced quite a bit of adversity and I’ve had to keep getting back up a lot.
“So much stuff is said about me that isn’t true, but I try not to let it affect me. The past year has meant getting used to that side of things – the publicity and hearing all these things I never even knew about myself! The attention on the tour is so intense.”
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