Emma Raducanu battling to attract big sponsors amid strong competition

Raducanu became the most talked about sportswoman in the world when she became the first tennis player in history to win a Grand Slam after coming through qualifying.

Dior, Porsche, Tiffany, British Airways, Vodafone and Evian were among the marquee brands that wanted to be a part of the Raducanu story, but the success in August 2021 is now becoming a distant memory.

Raducanu has struggled with fitness and form since that famous win in the Big Apple, with her status just outside the top 50 of the WTA Rankings not what the sponsors were hoping for after so much investment in the glamorous Brit.

So it's no surprise to see the next generation of rising tennis stars leaping ahead of Raducanu in the race to land the big sponsorship deals.

At the top of that list appears to be Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva, who has just been unveiled as one of the new faces of Rolex.

Andreeva was a French Open semi-finalist last year and has also appeared in the fourth round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

She has also reached the last eight in three WTA 1000 tournaments and has shown a far more impressive level of consistency compared to Raducanu even though the 17-year-old is a lot younger.

It's not known how much Andreeva's deal with Rolex is worth, but the luxury watch brand only link-up with the biggest names in sport and tends to pay fees to their chosen clients that reflect that level of excellence.

Raducanu still has some of her sponsors from that post-US Open win, but she will need to pick up her form on the court to confirm she is worthy of ongoing lofty status in the game.

A thumping 6-1, 6-0 defeat against Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open was backed up by a 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 defeat against Spain's Cristina Bucsa in the Singapore Open on Monday.

In a match featuring 17 breaks of serve, Raducanu's inability to hang on to her own serve was in evidence again, but she found silver linings in her defeat.

"I think I'm in a pretty good place with everything and I think I actually played better than I did in Melbourne, so that is ironic," she said.

"For me to be playing this kind of match, all I need is time on court and a match-competitive situation, which I got today. I got it in abundance, over three hours of it.

"I fought really hard. I gave everything. So I just got to keep building and moving on."

Raducanu also spoke about her hopes for 2025 after the hammering against Swiatek, as she suggested the one-side nature of the match was tough to take. 

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