It's absolutely no secret that Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, is super sporty and a huge tennis fan – we've seen her pop along to watch matches at Wimbledon numerous times. She also recently even hopped on social media to send a personal message to newly reigning US Open champion, Emma Raducanu, too.
Now, the Duchess has gone a step further and spent the day not only hanging out with Emma, but actually playing tennis with her too, as part of her homecoming. Major! It must have been lowkey a bit intimidating, even for athletic Kate, given that Emma is also not only the US Open reigning winner, but the first British woman to win a Grand Slam singles title since the 1977 Wimbledon Championships.
Posting about the day on the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's Instagram account, a series of images of Kate and Emma, along with fellow athletes Joe Salisbury, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid, were shared.
The upload was captioned: "In the presence of champions 🏆 Congratulations @emmaraducanu, @joesalisbury92, @alfiehewett6 and @gordonreid on your incredible achievements in this year’s #USOpen. We are all so proud of you!"
Emma also shared a snap of herself and Kate on her IG and wrote, "Perfect day for some tennis 😍 & what an honour, loved being part of the #LTAyouth".
Prior to Emma's big win, Kate tweeted the teenager after she made it to the final of the prestigious Grand Slam saying: "What an incredible achievement at this year's #USOpen @EmmaRaducanu! We will all be rooting for you tomorrow. Wishing you the best of luck!"
Everyone's clicking on...
The Duchess signed off her tweet with a simple 'C' for Catherine.
Following Emma's win in the final round against Leylah Fernandez, Kate also posted again, writing alongside an image of Emma holding the trophy, "Huge congratulations Emma Raducanu on your stunning performances and historic Grand Slam victory! Incredible –we are all so proud of you. Leylah Fernandez, well done on your amazing achievements at this year’s #USOpen, it’s been a pleasure to watch. C."
We're sensing the start of a new friendship here, no? Would you just look at the rest of these pictures!
They both look so happy to be hanging out, we can't even deal:
We like to imagine Kate is inviting Emma over to Anmer Hall for a little movie and pizza night here, or perhaps suggesting they hit the pub after their match for white wine sprtizers:
We're really stanning this friendship, if you couldn't already tell...
Jennifer Savin is Cosmopolitan UK's multiple award-winning Features Editor, who was crowned Digital Journalist of the Year for her work tackling the issues most important to young women. She regularly covers breaking news, cultural trends, health, the royals and more, using her esteemed connections to access the best experts along the way. She's grilled everyone from high-profile politicians to A-list celebrities, and has sensitively interviewed hundreds of people about their real life stories. In addition to this, Jennifer is widely known for her own undercover investigations and campaign work, which includes successfully petitioning the government for change around topics like abortion rights and image-based sexual abuse. Jennifer is also a published author, documentary consultant (helping to create BBC’s Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next?) and a patron for Y.E.S. (a youth services charity). Alongside Cosmopolitan, Jennifer has written for The Times, Women’s Health, ELLE and numerous other publications, appeared on podcasts, and spoken on (and hosted) panels for the Women of the World Festival, the University of Manchester and more. In her spare time, Jennifer is a big fan of lipstick, leopard print and over-ordering at dinner. Follow Jennifer on Instagram, X or LinkedIn.
