The 2021 US Open remains the first and only tournament Raducanu has won as a professional. Over two and a half years later, injuries, pressure, and sky-high expectations have taken their toll, leaving her struggling to manage the overwhelming fame that followed her triumph.
Emma Raducanu may face financial disaster in 2025
A stunning debut
In August 2021, Emma Raducanu arrived at the US Open qualifiers as a total unknown. Two weeks later, she shocked the world by winning the tournament and emerging as the new star of women’s tennis.
From anonymity to glory
Raducanu strung together 10 wins in 18 days, without dropping a single set, becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam title starting from the qualifiers. She soared from 150th to 23rd in the WTA rankings, even breaking into the top 10 by June 2022. But despite the meteoric rise, she never quite took off.
The Grand Slam remains her only professional win
Too many things to manage
At just 18 years old, the British tennis player became an overnight sensation, quickly rising as one of the biggest stars in the WTA and one of the highest-paid athletes in the world.
Seventh-highest paid female athlete of 2024
Despite her lack of wins, Raducanu earned $13 million in 2024 (approximately £10.4 million or €12 million), Sportico reported, mostly from sponsorship deals, making her the seventh highest-paid athlete in the world this year.
More income than Simone Biles
To put it in perspective, Raducanu earned more from endorsements than Simone Biles, who brought in $10.4 million (around £8.3 million or €9.6 million).
Premium sponsorships
Nike, Wilson, British Airways, Vodafone, HSBC, Evian, Porsche, Tiffany, and Dior are just some of the brands backing the British tennis star. However, if her performance on the court doesn’t improve, she risks losing their support.
Sponsors need to see good results
Dr. Rob Wilson, a sports finance expert, warned that if Emma Raducanu "doesn’t start winning games, if she doesn’t go deep into tournaments, she is going to really struggle to renegotiate or renew any of those commercial endorsements and the career could be over pretty much in its infancy," Metro reported.
Intrusive thoughts
"Sometimes I wish I'd never won the US Open," the tennis player told The Sunday Times in June 2023. "I was very naive. Over the last two years I've realised that the circuit and its surroundings are not pleasant and safe spaces," she said.
Managing wins and losses
Speaking about her erratic career in recent years, Raducanu admitted: "I had a lot of setbacks, one after another. My self-esteem is very connected to my achievements and if I lost a match, I would get very depressed. I was under a lot of pressure."
Injury-plagued
A lot of this inconsistency can be attributed to injuries. 2023 was especially tough, with her season ending in April after surgery on both wrists and her left ankle. She returned to competition in January 2024, but the discomfort has persisted, and she’s played through pain all season, missing many key events along the way.
A better 2024
However, she finished 2024 ranked 57th in the WTA, with a semi-final appearance at the WTA 250 in Nottingham and a round-of-16 finish at Wimbledon – her best result in a Grand Slam since winning the US Open.
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And now what?
While these results may not be enough to secure her multimillion-dollar sponsorships, they provide a solid foundation for her to continue growing as a player and potentially rediscover the incredible form that captivated the world in the summer of 2021.
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