Emma Raducanu of Great Britain poses during the awarding ceremony after the women's singles final of the 2021 US Open between Emma Raducanu of Great Britain and Leylah Fernandez of Canada in New York, the United States, September 11, 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Britain's Emma Raducanu, 18, defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez from Canada to win her first grand slam at the US Open final on Saturday. The young athlete, whose mother is from Northeast China, was applauded by Chinese netizens who were impressed by her multicultural background and pride in her half Chinese descent.

Although Raducanu does not have a major social media presence in China, the Sina Weibo account she registered in July only has a little more than 1,800 followers and has not yet posted any content, some netizens predicted that the young tennis player would be hailed in China if she decided to make a name for herself in the country.

"She would be immensely popular if she attended the China Open or Wuhan Open," one netizen wrote under a post from the official account of US Open on Sina Weibo on Sunday.

The post, uploaded after the match, contained a video of Raducanu giving an interview in Chinese, during which she thanked those who watched the match.

Some netizens noted that Raducanu must have learned her Chinese from her mother as she spoke Chinese with a local accent of someone from Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

The tennis player mentioned that her family was one of contributors to her success in previous interview. 

"My mom has always instilled a lot of qualities, like discipline and respect for other people, into me, so I think having parents like I do, they always push me. They have high expectations, so I've always tried to live up to that," she said.

"My mom's side of the family, when I go over to China, they are so mentally resilient. It's like nothing can bring them down. I would say I take a big part of my inspiration from her. My mom has worked very hard," added Raducanu, noting that she visits her mother's home city of Shenyang in Liaoning Province during the holidays and had even practiced tennis at a local sports school.

When the news of Raducanu's win spread to Chinese social media platforms, many netizens took interest in her growth and background.

Born in Canada to immigrant parents, the young player grew up in the UK. Her father is Romanian and both him and her mother work in the financial industry.

Raducanu began playing tennis at the age of 5 and meanwhile also fell in love with other sports such as table tennis and swimming.

Raducanu said she is also very interested in Chinese culture. She has been to Shenyang many times to visit her grandmother and other relatives. During her time in the city, she also practiced at a local table tennis gym.

A Sina Weibo user commented that the player's achievement does not only mean a lot to British tennis players, but also can stimulate many Chinese young tennis players to insist on their dreams.

"I am also from Shenyang and proud of Emma's performance at the US Open. I want my daughter to learn tennis to stay healthy and Emma's story will be a good example for her," Cui, a mom of a 3-year-old girl, told the Global Times on Sunday.