Emma Raducanu has had a tennis season to forget, but off the court she has made an eye-watering amount.
According to The Sun , in the 12 months up to the end of May 2022, Raducanu earned £22.8million, placing third behind second place Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, who is this year's highest paid female athlete at £46m. Just £2.8m of the teen's earnings have coming from tennis matches, and £1.8m came from her US Open win last year.
The remaining £20m comes from the multiple endorsements deals the teen secured over the last year. Her sponsors include multi-million-pound deals with luxury brands Tiffany & Co, Dior and Porsche. She has also become an ambassador for British Airways, Evian, Vodafone and HSBC.
Raducanu also appeared in Sports Direct's Christmas advert last year and is also paid by Nike and Wilson to use their gear on the court. In a 2022 campaign blighted by injuries and poor form, she finished with a losing 17-19 record and £600,000 in prize money.
At periods during the season, Raducanu was criticised for having too many off-court commitments which many viewed as a possible distraction from her performances.
Despite all the endorsements, tennis is Raducanu’s number one priority amid her commercial deals. “Maybe you just see, on the news or on social media, me signing this or that deal and I feel like it’s quite misleading because I’m doing five, six hours a day [of training], I’m at the club for 12 hours a day,” Raducanu said back in March.
“But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden it’s ‘I don’t focus on tennis’. I think that it is unfair but it’s something I have learned to deal with and become a bit more insensitive to the outside noise.
“I feel like my days [with sponsors] are pretty limited. I’m not doing crazy days. I’m doing three, four days every quarter, so it’s really not that much.” Raducanu has cut her season short after an injury has ruled her out of the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup.
It ends a troubled campaign for the Bromley local which started with a pre-season disrupted by Covid and she has since suffered blisters, back and various muscle issues.
She is also looking for her fifth new coach in 16 months after Russian Dimitry Tursunov ended their working relationship earlier this month. “It’s disappointing to get the news from the doctors that I won’t be ready in time, particularly with it being on home soil,” said the Bromley teenager.
“I tried to do everything possible to get it ready in time, since my last tournament I’ve been working every day on physical training and rehab. I’ve got confidence in my teammates and look forward to playing next year.”
