Emma Raducanu is tipped to become bigger – and richer – than Sir Andy Murray if she continues her fairy tale start to her professional tennis career.
The first British woman to reach at least the fourth round of her first two grand slams, and the first qualifier, male or female, to make the US Open semi-finals in the Open era, Radacanu’s run to at least the last four in New York has put her on the brink of becoming a teenage millionaire.
The 18-year-old’s earnings of $303,376 (£219,591) since turning pro – almost all of which she won at Wimbledon this summer – were guaranteed to be swelled by another $675,000 (£488,656), with an additional $575,000 (£416,182) on offer for getting to the final in New York.
Having already surpassed Murray’s earnings at the same age, Raducanu is on the right path to overhauling his career total of $62,059,682 (£44,859,841) on the court and the tens of millions extra he has gleaned in sponsorships and endorsements off it.
Steve Martin, global chief executive, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment, told Telegraph Sport: “She could easily get to the stage where she could surpass Andy Murray – probably quite quickly.”
Murray is fifth on tennis’s all-time career earnings list behind Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, arguably the four greatest players of all time.
Unlike the Scot, Raducanu will have the advantage of not having to compete with any of them for grand slam glory for the bulk of her career.
Murray, not shy in expressing his emotions on court, also had to work on his image as a teen, in stark contrast to Britain’s latest tennis idol.
“She really could be huge,” said Martin, speaking before Raducanu’s US Open semi-final against Maria Sakkari.
“She’s got all the assets that you’d want in terms of personality. Her physical ability is fantastic. She plays with a smile on her face. She’s great to watch. Interviews well.
“She’s very, very impressive – and very likeable. Really likeable. You want her to win.”
Raducanu’s mixed heritage – she was born in Canada to a Chinese mother and Romanian father before moving to England when she was two – could further turbo-charge her earnings potential.
Martin compared her to Naomi Osaka, who is half Japanese, half Haitian, and grew up in New York.
“Her earnings off the court are way more than she’s earned on the court – I mean, probably 10 times as much,” he said of the four-time grand slam winner.
“This isn’t just about domestic potential. It’s about her playing out on the global stage. It’s very exciting.”
Leading sports marketing consultant Tim Crow concurred, saying: “As Naomi Osaka has recently shown, a player with Emma’s multicultural background also gives her the advantage of being able to resonate in multiple markets.”
Tipping Raducanu to become Britain’s richest active sportswoman, Crow added: “If Emma achieves sustained success in the grand slam tournaments, it’s reasonable to assume she will become Britain’s highest-earning sportswoman of her era.
“Tennis is one of the few global sports, with huge appeal and a very strong endorsement economy for women as well as men, where it stands alone.”
Indeed, Crow said companies were already queuing up to sign deals with her, saying: “I have numerous clients who have shown an interest in sponsoring her, all of them major brands.”
Martin said such brands would be wise to move quickly to snap up Raducanu.
“It would be a great opportunity to back her now, while she’s young, to create a long-term relationship,” he said.
“Women’s sport is on the rise to such a massive extent. Brands are interested in backing women’s sport and you’ve seen that happening around the cricket with The Hundred, you’ve seen it around the Solheim Cup; football is getting bigger and bigger.
“There’s a massive momentum behind women’s sport that wasn’t there four or five years ago.
“If you suddenly have an individual star as part of that rise within the industry then she’s going to stand out even more.”
But Martin had a word of warning for Raducanu: tennis comes first.
Declaring she would need “very good management” to avoid off-court opportunities becoming “a distraction”, he added: “The key thing for me was actually that Wimbledon didn’t become a flash in the pan.
“We’ve seen that before. You’ve got this great British hope coming through. And then, maybe three or four weeks later, the story moves on.”