NOW FOR THE GONG, EMMA!
Teenage tennis ace in line for £150m fortune ... AND a New Year Honour
EMMA Raducanu is in line to receive a gong in the New Year Honours after her stunning US Open victory.
Insiders say the 18-year-old tennis sensation will qualify for an OBE ‘at least’ – and may even receive a CBE in reflection of her historic triumph at such a young age.
It would make her one of the youngestever recipients of a CBE, which is second only to a damehood. As the Queen led tributes to the young superstar, a royal source told the Daily Mail: ‘It would seem Miss Raducanu would be deserving of at least an OBE, if not a CBE.’
It caps off a whirlwind year for the youngster from Bromley, south-east London, whose astonishing performance in New York has propelled her to global stardom.
Just months after studying for her Alevels at her state secondary school in Orpington, Miss Raducanu was crowned US Open champion on Saturday, beating Canadian Leylah Fernandez in style. Remarkably, the teenager – the first British woman in 44 years to win a Grand
‘I haven’t checked my phone yet’
Slam singles title – did not drop a set during the tournament.
She is now hot favourite to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
And after scooping £1.8million in prize money, Miss Raducanu is poised to receive a string of lucrative endorsement and sponsorship opportunities, with marketing executives claiming she could eventually be worth up to £150 million.
Despite capturing the hearts of a nation seeking joy in sport following more than a year of morale-sapping lockdowns, the teenager appeared blissfully unaware of her new-found fame.
Remarkably, she told a press conference that she did not know the Queen – who sent a letter of congratulations following her win – had been watching on television, or that it was being broadcast on Channel 4 after a last-minute deal was brokered with Amazon.
She even told reporters that she had no idea the winners’ purse was £1.8 million – saying she just wanted to earn enough money to replace her lost AirPod headphones.
She said: ‘Before my first-round qualifying match, I lost my AirPods three minutes before I was called to court. I have been telling myself before each match, “If you win, you can buy yourself another pair”. That has been the running joke.’
Describing the isolation of the tournament despite the global audience, she added: ‘I just completely switched off from everything. I haven’t had a chance to catch up. I haven’t checked my phone yet, I’ve got no idea what’s going on.
‘Never in my life I thought Her Majesty would watch one of my matches. It’s so special, I can’t believe that it’s happening.’
Miss Raducanu was also unaware that she had passed a million followers on Instagram.
Miss Raducanu’s parents, Ian and Renee, were forced to watch her triumph from the UK because of the US’s strict Covid travel rules, with the player saying her ‘tough-toplease’ father had told her after the match: ‘You’re even better than your dad thought.’