Emma Raducanu becomes a quick fire millionaire as her ranking rockets after US Open run

Kevin Palmer
Emma Raducanu celebrates

It is one of the most remarkable stories in the history of the game and now Emma Raducanu has become the latest tennis millionaire.

The 18-year-old from Kent has defied the odds and stunned the tennis world by becoming the first qualifier to reach a Grand Slam final.

Her 6-1, 6-4 victory over 17th seed Maria Sakkari set up a prime-time Arthur Ashe Court showdown with Canadian 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez on Saturday.

The British 18-year-old was ranked at No.338 when she was handed a wildcard into Wimbledon in June, with her run to the fourth round of the grass court Grand Slam justifying her status as the rising star of British tennis.

Yet even her biggest supporters at the Lawn Tennis Association did not believe she was ready to produce the kind of performances she has served up in New York, winning three rounds of qualifying and now storming through the main draw without dropping a set en-route to the final.

She is the first female or male qualifer to reach a Grand Slam final in tennis history and the first British woman to get through a major singles final since Virginia Wade won Wimbledon in 1977.

https://twitter.com/EmmaRaducanu/status/1436212416963096579?s=20

The rewards are also flowing for Raducanu, as her run to the US Open final has already guaranteed her a stunning $1.25million windfall, with that cheque doubling to a cool $2.5million if she beats fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez in Saturday’s final.

Her rankings rise is also breathtaking, as that mark of No.338 from June is a distant dream as Raducanu will be moving up to No.32 in the world whatever happens in her match against Fernandez.

If she were to complete her fairytale of New York and win the title, she will move up to No.23 in the world, with the riches that come with being one of the new faces of tennis certain to change her life forever.

Former British No.1 Annabel Croft spoke to Tennis365 about Raducanu’s potential ahead of the US Open and now she is making bold claims about her future.

“It was absolutely breath-taking and jaw-dropping and one of the most brilliant performances I think I’ve seen in a very, very long time in tennis, if not one of the best that I’ve ever seen,” Croft told the BBC’s Today programme.

“The fact that Emma Raducanu, we haven’t seen anything of her before Wimbledon, she’s just 18, she had to battle through three rounds of qualifiers.

“But it’s not just that, it’s the fact that she’s absolutely blitzed all of these much higher ranked and much more experienced opponents and they just don’t seem to stand a chance against her.

“You never want to put too much pressure on somebody, but… it does feel like we are looking at someone who may go on to dominate the world of tennis.

“She may well reach the top… I really do feel that she is very, very special.”

“I just wanted to be in the final and I fought for every point. I don’t know how I got that last point in but I’m glad it was.”

The future could not be brighter for the new queen of British sport, who has become a superstar in double quick time.

 

Emma Raducanu

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