EMMA RADUCANU earned a staggering £20million from sponsorships in her breakthrough year.
And that helped her to be the third-highest-earning female athlete in the world in 2022.
The British superstar, 19, endured a difficult year on the court, her first full season on the WTA Tour.
In a campaign plagued by injuries, she finished with a losing 17-19 record and £600,000 in prize money.
However, in the 12 months up to the end of May 2022, she earned £2.8m from tennis – including £1.8m from the stunning US Open win.
But the £20m from endorsements saw the teenager’s total income sky-rocket to £22.8m.
Raducanu was born in Canada and grew up in Bromley with a Romanian dad and a Chinese mum.
That has made her a marketer’s dream and she has been snapped up by a long list of high-profile companies paying her to promote their products.
Raducanu’s sponsors include multi-million-pound deals with luxury brands Tiffany & Co, Dior and Porsche.
She has also become an ambassador for British Airways, Evian, Vodafone and HSBC.
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The tennis ace, currently ranked 76th in the world, appeared in Sports Direct’s Christmas advert last year and is also paid by Nike and Wilson to use their gear on the court.
Raducanu – who enjoyed a weekend away at the Four Seasons Hotel in Hampshire – cut her season short after struggling to recover from a wrist injury and is currently looking for her fifth coach in 16 months.
But away from tennis, she can have no complaints – with only two other female athletes earning more in the 12 months up to May… and both are fellow WTA stars.
Serena Williams may have retired in September and earned just £260,000 in prize money over the course of the period covered by Sportico’s figures.
However, she pocketed a staggering £30.4m in endorsements but that was only good enough for second behind Naomi Osaka.
The Japanese four-time Grand Slam champ managed just £1m from tennis and £45m away from the court, helped by setting up her own agency.
In total, there are seven tennis players in the top ten.
Former world No1 Ash Barty won the Australian Open in January then announced her shock retirement but still earned £6.6m, fractionally behind American rising star Coco Gauff.
Raducanu’s beaten finalist in New York last September was Leylah Fernandez, who signed her own share of big-money deals, and takes the last spot on £5.6m.
However, despite being the dominant No1 player in the world, lifting two Grand Slams in 2022 and earning the most from tournament winnings on the list (£4.9), Iga Swiatek only supplemented that with £2.1m in sponsorships, the lowest of the top ten.
The remaining three slots were made up by American-born Chinese Olympic skier Eileen Gu, 19, with £86,000 from skiing and £19.9m from endorsements including as a Victoria’s Secret model.
All but £33,000 of gymnast Simone Biles’ £7.8m came from her various deals with big brands while South Korean golfer Ko Jin-young earned £3.1m on the course and £4.1m off it.
