"Back to my first home" - Emma Raducanu recreates childhood photo in front of CN Tower in her birthplace Toronto

Emma Raducanu's journey at the 2022 Canadian Open ended with an early loss, but the British youngster is leaving Toronto with some fond memories of her birthplace. Raducanu shared some of the best moments from her recent trip to her 'first home' and a special photo from many years ago.

Raducanu played the Canadian Open in Toronto for the first time in her career this season but lost to defending champion Camila Giorgi in the first round on Tuesday.

In a post on Instagram, the 19-year-old shared an adorable picture of herself as a child posing for a picture with her mother in front of the famous CN Tower in Toronto. She then attached a photo of herself at the exact location during this week's trip.

"Back to my first home," the caption of her post read.

Raducanu was born in Toronto in November 2002. She then moved with her family to the UK when she was two years old and was raised in Bromley, England.

She will aim to find some form at next week's Cincinnati Open after back-to-back losses at the Citi Open and the Canadian Open. The rising teenage talent will be one of the stars to watch at the US Open as she won the Grand Slam tournament last year as a qualifier in a historic run. Her appearance in Cincinnati next week will be her debut at the tournament in Ohio.

She reached the quarterfinals of the Citi Open last week by defeating Louisa Chirico and Maria Camila Osorio Serrano, but then lost to Ludmilla Samsonova. At the Canadian Open, Raducanu lost a closely-contested opening set against Giorgi in a tie-breaker and then lost the match 6-7(0), 2-6.

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"It's going to be nice once the US Open is finished and I can carry on from there" - Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu in action at the National Bank Open Toronto

Emma Raducanu reflected on dealing with the pressure of being a Grand Slam champion that has contributed to the challenges she has faced this season. Since her breakthrough performance at last year's US Open, Raducanu has not been able to replicate her success at other major events this year.

The British player said that, in a way, she is looking forward to the end of this year's US Open so she can have a clean slate thereafter.

"I think it's going to be nice once the US Open is finished and [I can] carry on from there. Start again. I think it will be nice to take all of the lessons from the last year and just [have] a clean slate," Emma Raducanu said in a press conference at the Canadian Open.

At the same time, she is grateful for having won a Grand Slam tournament at such an early stage of her career and expressed pride at her achievement.

“To have success at a young age, obviously you have to be really grateful because I'm doing what I love, but also I've reached success way earlier than I ever really would have thought I did. So I'm pretty proud of myself in that way,” she added.

At the 2021 US Open, Raducanu won all her matches in straight sets right from the start of the qualifying event. She defeated players of the caliber of Sara Sorribes Tormo, Shelby Rogers, Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic, Maria Sakkari, and fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez en route to the title.