Tennis grand slam champion warned she could lose $18m fortune

A forgotten tennis star and grand slam champion has been warned she could lose her massive fortune if her struggles continue.

Emma Raducanu has been warned she is at risk of losing her massive sponsorship deals.

The tennis star shot to fame with her shock win as a wildcard at the US Open in 2021.

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Raducanu, 22, was expected to follow up that success to become one of the top players in women’s tennis.

As a result, she landed many brand deals and endorsements as a marketer’s dream who speaks fluent English and Mandarin.

Raducanu was the seventh highest paid female athlete in 2024 despite being hampered by injuries, and finished the year ranked 57th in the world. Her best result was a fourth round appearance at Wimbledon.

In October, she withdrew from the Hong Kong Open because of a ligament injury in her foot.

Sportico claims that the star has earned £9 million ($A17.8 million) from endorsements from the likes of Porsche, Tiffany & Co., Dior, British Airways, Evian and Vodafone.

Britain's Emma Raducanu was the seventh highest earner of all female athletes in 2024. (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC / AFP)

The British tennis player is a marketer’s dream. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN / AFP)

Sports finance expert Dr Rob Wilson believes that if she does not rediscover her winning form, then the sponsor could start to leave her.

He told OLGB: “But if she doesn’t start winning games, if she doesn’t go deep into tournaments.

“She is going to really struggle to renegotiate or renew any of those commercial endorsements and the career could be over pretty much in its infancy.

“Which would be a crying shame because she’s a hugely talented individual and hugely marketable as well. Raducanu is aiming for a return to the top of the tree in 2025.

Coco Gauff is the world's highest-earning female athlete, taking home over $30 million this year.

Roger Federer's agency reps Gauff, and she is just the third woman in sports history to crack $30M in annual income, joining Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams.

Caitlin Clark also… pic.twitter.com/zbSX3eJGS7

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 5, 2024

She hired former world No.1 Maria Sharapova and fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura to her team.

She told the Telegraph: “I think he is going to help me just really explore how far I can go, like, athletically.

“It’s a big strength of mine that I have nowhere near fulfilled.

“I think I can become one of the best athletes out there in tennis.”

Raducanu’s sponsorship deals have not always gone smoothly.

As part of her deal with Porsche, she was handed a £125,000 ($A248,000) 911 Carrera GTS Cabriolet.

It’s three years since Raducanu stunned the world to win the 2021 US Open. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)

Caroline Wozniacki, Coco Gauff, Alex de Minaur and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain at the 2024 Australian Open. (Photo by Graham Denholm/Getty Images)

However, Raducanu saw her pride and joy taken from her after the company “took it back”.

One of her associates was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying: “Emma no longer has a Porsche.

“They took it back. It used to have pride of place at her home.”

A Porsche spokesperson later confirmed this was the case, with the company handing out cars on an ad hoc basis.

The following month, Raducanu posted a snap of a new Porsche in a parking bay, having seemingly been handed a new one by the luxury car maker.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Tennis grand slam champion warned she could lose $18m fortune