Following her US Open win as a teenager, Emma Raducanu is already considered British tennis royalty. But away from the court, Raducanu has a regal connection that not that many people know about… well, sort of. That’s because tennis ace Raducanu is close friends with one of the stars from the hit TV show, Bridgerton. And ahead of the first part of season four being released today, Express Sport has explored Raducanu’s close friendship with actress Simone Ashley.
The two have been snapped together at different events, from Raducanu’s tennis matches to high-profile birthday parties. Raducanu and Ashley are even close enough that the 2021 US Open champion was part of the friendship group that organised the latter’s birthday bash, sparking an emotional response from the Bridgerton ace.
Sharing a snap of a group of friends, of which included Raducanu, Ashley wrote on Instagram: “Thank you to my love for organising the best day ever. I adore all my friends so much.”
And the pair are often dropping compliments on each other’s Instagram posts, including a loveheart and fire emoji shared by Ashley in response to a snap of Raducanu’s holiday pictures in Rome.
Ashley, who turns 31 later this year, referenced Raducanu during a speech at the Women in Film talk last year. She said: “One of my friends, Emma Raducanu, she’s such an inspiration to me. She said to me ‘you owe it to everyone that’s ever believed in you’.”
“She’s an athlete, right? She’s got a very athletic mindset, so she’s like ‘get up and keep going’. So it’s about having that athletic someone in your mind, it’s not just about you, because you owe it to other people that were so patient to believe in you.”
It would appear the two really are the closest of friends, with Raducanu no doubt among those binge-watching the new Bridgerton series as it hits the screens.