Impassioned Emma Raducanu defends herself against ‘unfair and misleading’ brand deal criticisms
An emboldened Emma Raducanu has responded to criticism that she cares more about brand deals than tennis by saying she thinks such accusations are “misleading.”
19-year-old British sensation Emma Raducanu shocked the world when she became the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam when she won the US Open last year.
However, the young Brit is still adjusting to life on the WTA Tour and is currently enjoying her first full season on the professional circuit.
The furthest stage of a tournament that Raducanu has reached since her Flushing Meadows success was the quarter-finals of the Transylvanian Open in Romania.
Whilst she has picked up some impressive first round victories, namely when she beat 2017 US Open winner Sloane Stephens at the Australian Open, she has only strung consecutive match wins together just once.
Raducanu recently signed a brand deal with renowned car manufacturer Porsche as well as a $4 million (£3 million) deal with British telephone network Vodafone.
These deals add to already signed partnerships with Nike, Dior, Tiffany’s and Co. and British Airways. Raducanu is also reportedly set to add a major British high-street bank to her growing portfolio.
Speaking on the criticism that has arisen from such sponsorships matched with not winning matches, Raducanu said “if you just see – like on the news or on social media – me signing this deal or that deal, I feel like it’s quite misleading.
“Because I’m doing five or six hours a day [of training]. I’m at the [tennis] club for 12 hours a day. But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden, it’s – you know – ‘I don’t focus on tennis’ or whatever.
“I think that it is unfair, but it’s something that I have learned to deal with more and become a bit more insensitive to the outside noise.
“And at the end of the day, I feel like my days [working with commercial partners] are pretty limited. I’m not even doing crazy days. I feel like I’m doing like three or four days every quarter, so it’s really not that much.”
Speaking to The Telegraph, one tennis agent speculated that Raducanu could potentially stand to make a total of £250 million from a decade within the World’s top ten ranked players.
They said “Emma is probably picking up £10 to 15m annually via these deals but they do add up in terms of obligations.
“You also have to ask what she could earn out of a decade in the world’s top 10 – and I’d put that at somewhere around £250m.”
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