'Never seen this': Billion-dollar truth behind Emma Raducanu triumph
Publicist Mark Borkowski says Emma Raducanu could unlock a staggering $1 billion in earnings across her career after her historic triumph at the US Open.
The British 18-year-old shocked the tennis world in New York, becoming the first qualifier in history to win a grand slam.
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The extraordinary accomplishment saw her pocket $3.4 million in prize money, rise from 150th to 23rd in the WTA rankings, as well as double her Instagram following to over 1.7 million.
Sponsors will now be lining up to get on board with Raducanu, who will undoubtedly become the 'it' girl of tennis.
And according to renowned publicist Borkowski, who has worked with the likes of Michael Jackson and Led Zeppelin, Raducanu has the potential to earn $1 billion on and off the court.
“Potentially, I see her as a billion dollar girl,” he told The Sun. “She’s everything that is really positive about the new icons that this age has got to throw up.
“In the conflicting culture wars, here we have someone who is young, incredibly talented, has a multicultural background.
"Everything about her is what every brand would like to get their hands on right now.
"The way she handled the Wimbledon incident, the way she’s come back, the way she tackles interviews, the way the crowd responds to her, the way she plays the game … if she is as good as the form suggests the sky is the limit.
“You get a sense with Emma that she’s got a really powerful personality to go along with the talent.”
Sports marketing consultant Tim Crow told The Guardian: “I haven’t had this many calls from clients, major brands, who are interested in her since Lewis Hamilton broke through in Formula One.
“As far as brand appeal is concerned I think you can draw parallels with Naomi Osaka. Because of the multicultural aspect of her heritage she is able to resonate in so many markets.
“She is a world citizen: she appeals so far beyond a typical white, British, middle-class female tennis player.”
Major warning for Emma Raducanu amid increased spotlight
And according to former coach Mark Petchey, Raducanu's stunning US Open triumph showed the British teenager can "rule the world" of women's tennis.
Petchey believes Raducanu could emulate the sustained success of former men's World No.1 Andy Murray, who has also worked with the coach.
"From the first day that I met her at the National Tennis Centre, she does have something a little bit special," Petchey told ITV on Monday.
"I can't really explain it in a scientific way, when I've worked with Andy Murray for a year as well and obviously watching Andy from 16, he also had this ability to be able to pick up a tennis ball and in a sport that is played in fractions of seconds that allows you to do very special things, and Emma has that.
"I think everything could be improved; I think her service is still a work in progress. I think her net game is going to get even better as you get a greater understanding of where to be.
"I think her room for improvement is not just incremental gains, I think they are substantial and I honestly think she is going to rule the world."
However Virginia Wade, the last British woman to win a grand slam singles title in 1977, warned that dealing with an increased amount of exposure could be the most difficult change for Raducanu.
Osaka won the US Open early in her career and has since struggled with the level of scrutiny of the modern-day athlete.
The 23-year-old is currently taking a break from tennis, with no date set for her return.
Raducanu, who was born in Canada to parents from Romania and China and moved to Britain as a toddler, now has to negotiate the same relentless spotlight that comes with her ground-breaking success.
Asked how she should handle the new level of fame, Wade told the BBC: "That is probably the hardest thing these days, to handle that and so she's got to have very good advice on that.
"Just not to do too much and not to play too much because you don't want to play that much when there's so much expectation on you and then you get stale or you lose your motivation, so that is a balance that's difficult to get.
"I think for Emma, she needs to understand just how good she really is, but you have to constantly work at that to maintain it, she has to have that self-belief — if you believe that you're better than the others, you're going to beat them."
with AFP
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