Emma Raducanu has ruled out studying at Oxford University after her Wimbledon run came to an end in the last 16.
The former US Open champion was the last British singles player left in the tournament but was knocked out by New Zealand qualifier and world No. 123 Lulu Sun yesterday evening (Sunday, July 7).
The British No. 3 lost 6–2, 5-7, 6-2 on Centre Court meaning Sun became the first qualifier to reach the quarter-final since Kaia Kanepi in 2010.
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Ahead of the Championships, Ms Raducanu was pictured in the main quad of Corpus Christi College during a visit to Oxford University.
When asked if her run at Wimbledon had delayed her decision to study at Oxford University, the 21-year-old responded that the question had taken her by "surprise".
“I’m very much focused on my professional tennis career,” she said in the post-match press conference.
“Once that’s over maybe or once I have more disposition or more time, that’s for sure something I would love to explore.
“For now I’m very much focused on the tennis.”
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The tennis star shared images on her Instagram page of her time in Oxford with fellow player Fran Jones prior to the tournament.
She visited the city in between grass-court events in Nottingham and Eastbourne.
Raducanu was also pictured on punts travelling down the River Cherwell.
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Asked about the day out, Raducanu said: “We are both pretty academic, I would say.
“We have a vision for the future and Oxford (University) is definitely something that we would both enjoy.
“It was just a bit spontaneous really, we felt like going and we love coffee so some great little coffee spots. It was just a good opportunity for a day off.
“I think sometimes tennis is consuming and it’s important that you can have that vision for your career afterwards and sometimes keeping in touch with it. So that when you do come back in here, you’re ready to go again instead of everything else being drowned out.
“There’s a lot I want to do in my life and I feel like sometimes I don’t have enough time to do everything.
“But I think I would like to use my different skill sets off the court once I’m done with tennis, and I think tennis is a fantastic sport to provide you the life experiences and the values that many people don’t attain until a much later age.”
Following her Wimbledon exit, Raducanu also defended her “no-brainer” decision to pull out of mixed doubles with Andy Murray.
The 21-year-old denied Murray a final match at the All England Club after withdrawing from their scheduled first-round encounter on Saturday citing a sore wrist.
Responding the news, Judy Murray branded the decision “astonishing” before insisting on Sunday that she was being sarcastic.
Raducanu shrugged off the intervention, saying: “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
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