Luke Littler was reportedly left baffled after being quizzed on advice from tennis star Emma Raducanu.
Littler has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence in Britain after his sensational performances at the World Darts Championship and Bahrain Masters earlier this month.
The 17-year-old is now looking to win back-to-back senior titles at the Dutch Masters, with the teenager due to lock horns with Luke Humphries on Saturday.
Recently, Raducanu gave Littler some advice. She said: “I would just say: 'Keep your circle close, take time to actually enjoy it and don't rush into the next thing straightaway.’"
Emma Raducanu gave Luke Littler advice but darts star has no idea who the tennis player is
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According to the Irish Times, however, Littler was left baffled.
He replied 'no' when asked whether he knew who Raducanu was, giving the distinct impression that he isn't much of a tennis fan.
When told that Raducanu is 'tennis' equivalent' of himself, he continued to look 'nonplussed'.
Eloise Milburn, Littler's girlfriend, chipped into the conversation.
She said: "Didn't she reach out to you?"
But Littler seemingly has no clue who Raducanu is, despite the tennis star enjoying a whirlwind rise just a few years ago.
The Briton won the US Open in 2021, stunning the sporting world in the process.
Yet Raducanu has found it difficult to play at that same high level, with injuries preventing the 21-year-old from kicking on.
Littler knows that, if he continues to win darts matches, he'll put a target on his back.
However, the teenager isn't worried about that and insists he's motivated to play against the biggest and best players in the world.
"I know everyone wants to beat me now," confessed the youngster.
"And I want to beat them. It’s my first year as a professional and I want to do as much as I can.”
Littler also takes great pride at how many fans he now has, having been relatively unknown just mere weeks ago.
Discussing his exploits at Ally Pally at the start of the month, he said: “Every night. I was awake until five every morning, on my phone, refreshing Instagram, seeing my followers go up.
"Before my first round against Christian Kist I had 4,000 followers and it went crazy.
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Emma Raducanu told Luke Littler to keep his circle small as he looks to dominate darts for many years to come
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"I’m the most followed darts player on Instagram with 1.1 million now.”
And Littler insists he's over his defeat to Humphries, adding: “Getting to the final was a bonus because I just wanted to win one game.
"You’ve just got to come back stronger. That’s what I did in Bahrain.”
On whether he'd cried over defeats as a child, he continued: “Oh yeah, especially at local grand slams.
"I remember a severe one in Widnes where the winner got 500 quid.
Luke Littler is hoping to win the Dutch Masters this week
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"I lost in the final and I was around 12.
“They were all pretty old men. Thirty, 40, 50.”
