Emma Raducanu admits she ‘wasn’t prepared’ for luxury £9million sponsorship deals that impacted her tennis
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EMMA RADUCANU says her tennis results were impacted by off-field commercial activities following the fairytale US Open win. When she incredibly became Queen of New York aged 18 in September 2021, Raducanu became a multimillionaire overnight – and a marketing man’s dream.
![[Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1339735233jpg-JS900128518.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Brands such as British Airways, Dior, HSBC, Porsche, Tiffany & Co and Vodafone chucked enormous amounts of cash in her direction. But in return, they all wanted her time in front of the cameras, so they could place her image on billboards and TV ads. Three years on, Raducanu – one of the top-10 highest-earning female athletes around – now realises how much it disrupted her ability to balance training and matches.
![[That led Raducanu to a raft of sponsorship deals]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/RexShutterstockDior14520506vjpg-JS906759170.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
Raducanu, 22, said: “I’m obviously very grateful and fortunate to have had certain experiences and opportunities but I wasn’t prepared for it. “You know, in my head it was like: ‘Okay, I wake up, I play tennis. I go to the gym. I go home and I don’t have anything else to do'.
![[Raducanu linked up with several major brands, such as Porsche]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/img_14jpg-JS869748753.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
“Especially straight after I did really well, for the next few years, it was very much like there was so much communication about things off the court. And I would always, always give my 100 per cent on the court. “I was always working really hard but I just think that I wasn’t prepared as well for the other things that inevitably do take some energy out of you.
![[But the off-field commercial activities impacted her tennis results]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/LFM_hqdefaultjpg-JS894802380.jpg?strip=all&w=480)
