- 18-year-old British tennis star Emma Raducanu is headed to her first career Grand Slam final.
- The teenager quadrupled her career earnings with her extraordinary run at this year’s US Open.
- She’s well positioned to become Britain’s highest-paid female athlete, marketing experts say.
Emma Raducanu is playing dream tennis — and it’s paying off.
The 18-year-old British wunderkind has enjoyed a magical run through the 2021 US Open that’s taken her all the way to her first Grand Slam final. She’s quadrupled her career earnings through nine wins — three qualifiers and six in-tournament matches — for a total payout of $1.2 million thus far in the tournament.
But the teenage sensation stands to earn even more now that she’s put herself on the map, according to various marketing and business experts.
Getty/TPN
Sponsorship and marketing consultant Nigel Currie told the BBC that Raducanu is “a marketing dream” and estimated that “advertisers and sponsors will be queuing up” for her services.
Between factors such as “Emma’s age, she’s Generation Z, her dual heritage, her growing profile, and the global platform she’s on,” Emlyon Business School professor Simon Chadwick guesses that there will be “plenty of deals Emma could make with big brands.”
“Nike and Adidas [will be] fighting over her,” Currie guessed.
All of that could amount to many millions of dollars in Raducanu’s pocket.
Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
Tennis players are typically among the highest-paid athletes in the world, especially among women athletes. This year, fellow tennis player Naomi Osaka was the highest-paid female athlete on Forbes’ list after raking in a record $60 million — $55 million of which came from endorsements — between May 2020 and May 2021.
While Raducanu has yet to dominate the competition to the same degree as Osaka, who has won four Grand Slams since 2018, her upside is undoubtedly lucrative. And her agent, IMG vice president of tennis Max Eisenbud, knows a thing or two about marketing the powerhouses of women’s tennis; he represented Maria Sharapova, the world’s highest-paid female athlete for 11 consecutive years, during her illustrious professional career.
Win or lose in Saturday’s final against fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez, Raducanu is poised to make her mark on the tennis world for years to come. Riches are all but guaranteed to follow.