Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu missed a great opportunity to play against her childhood idol, Simona Halep at the recent Transylvania Open. They were supposed to play each other at the semifinals of the WTA 250 event. But unfortunately, Raducanu lost her quarterfinals tie, which meant that the high voltage match never happened.

Despite going out in the quarterfinals, Halep heaped praises on Raducanu. She called her recent rise unbelievable and also commented on her great tennis. Halep also credited Raducanu’s fighting spirit and strong mentality on court.

“What she achieved is unbelievable,” Halep said. “And it’s all credit to her because she played so well and she played so many matches.”

“I think her mentality was very strong and also her game,” she continued. “She showed great tennis, very fast, very close to the baseline and I think her movement was also great.”

The former World No. 1 predicted a bright future for Raducanu pointing out that winning a Grand Slam so early will only help the youngster grow more. Halep feels that Raducanu has everything to break into the top 10 very soon.

“She’s already achieved the Grand Slam title so she’s able to achieve everything,” Halep said. “She now has the experience of winning the biggest tournament in tennis.”

“So I think she can easily make the top 10 and I think sooner than everyone else thinks because she’s already close to that,” she added. “She has a bright future and for sure she will be one of the best players in the world.”

The 18-year-old Brit will now play at the Upper Austria Linz Open scheduled to start on November 6 and will run till 12. Raducanu confirmed her participation at the WTA 250 event last month. She uploaded a video on the tournament’s Twitter handle confirming her participation. Surprisingly Raducanu will be the top seed at the Linz Open and there she will look to play against her idol Simona Halep. The Romanian tennis star is also part of the tournament with several competitive players. It will be interesting to see if Raducanu finally manages to face Halep or not.