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Emma Raducanu is gearing up to kick off her Australian Open campaign as the 28th seed, and the British No. 1's prowess on the tennis court is matched by her academic achievements. 

Five years after her stunning US Open victory in 2021, Raducanu is ready to take on another Grand Slam challenge on the courts of Melbourne.

The 23-year-old had a promising 2025, climbing from No. 58 in the WTA rankings to become a top-32 player and reaching the third round in several major tournaments. With coach Francisco Roig at her side, she's aiming to continue this upward trajectory in 2026.

But while Raducanu is one of Britain's finest tennis talents, her school exam results might raise eyebrows. Just about a month before her triumphant moment at the US Open, Raducanu received some more good news.

While she was competing on the ITF circuit in the United States in August 2021, her parents rang her with her A-level results. Raducanu, a former student at Newstead Wood School in Orpington, smashed her exams as she earned an A* in Maths and an A in Economics.

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These grades mirrored her equally impressive GCSE scores. Back in 2019, when Raducanu was juggling school and participation in various ITF events, she aced her GCSEs, achieving three 9s and four 8s.

This achievement matches straight A*s. The Toronto-born star reflected on her academic journey shortly after clinching her maiden Grand Slam title, revealing how continuing her A-level studies whilst pursuing tennis provided a vital mental break.

"I think staying in school definitely helped me in terms of having another set of friends I can come into," Raducanu said. "It was a different way of life. It's a bit of an escape as well for me to have another thing going alongside my tennis. It's kept my mind occupied.

"When you train, you only train for a certain amount of hours a day. You've still got a lot of time to fill. It's definitely helped to keep my mind active.

"I find it's actually helped me with my on-court career as well in the way that I can absorb a lot of information. I feel that on court I'm more tactically astute than some others."

Yet tennis remained her main focus to tremendous effect, though Raducanu acknowledges this commitment came at a cost to her social life during her formative years.

She told The Times: "My parents were very much against [boyfriends] as it interfered with training. When I was younger I wasn't even allowed to hang out with my girl friends.

"A lot of the time I was very resentful. But it made me very confident and comfortable in my own company, which is also a big strength."