Emma Raducanu, the new tennis star

Virginie Phulpin 7:25 am, October 6, 2021

Women's tennis has its new star: Emma Raducanu.

The young Briton won the US Open in September, she is back on the courts this week.

The whole world is tearing it apart.

But, for Virginie Phulpin, this is where the danger comes from, it should not be made a fairground animal.

Emma Raducanu has barely emerged from adolescence.

She is 18 years old.

And in two weeks, she changed galaxies.

She went from tennis hopeful to new global star in the snap of a finger.

Often, in a career, there are levels of progression, the status of athletes changes slowly with improving results.

There, apart from tennis aficionados, no one knew Emma Raducanu a month ago, and today she is thrown into the light.

And that is not without danger.

You have to cash in this notoriety, these new permanent solicitations when you are 18 years old. You know sports psychologists often say that athletes learn to deal with defeat, it's part of their job. But we fall into the unknown when it comes to managing victory and all that goes with it. Because it seems easy, while it's dizzying. In recent months, we have talked a lot about Naomi Osaka. The Japanese is struggling to live with her new status as a global icon. She mentioned the problem of mental health among athletes. An essential question that has been overlooked for too long. And it should be remembered by evoking Emma Raducanu. She remains an 18-year-old tennis player. Let's not make a fool of it. 

It's true that she ticks all the boxes to be the star of today and tomorrow, and women's tennis really needs headliners.

She ticks all the boxes, absolutely all of them.

A brilliant game of course.

She wowed the gallery at the US Open.

There is also the freshness of her smile.

We're not going to lie to each other, an ugly athlete who wins, no problem.

A sportswoman would rather have a pretty face in addition to her one-handed backhand if she wants to make a splash.

Box also checked.

And then Emma Raducanu has everything to be an icon on a whole planet. She is British, born in Canada to a Romanian father and a Chinese mother. Bingo! The women's circuit rubs their hands and pushes her forward to reignite public interest in the twilight of Serena Williams' career and after the retirement of Maria Sharapova. In England, there are plenty of marketing aces looking at the Raducanu case. And some exclaim that she will become the first athlete to amass a billion dollars in earnings in her career!

This player has just landed on the short pros that we are already doing this kind of calculation.

How much she will earn, and how much she will earn for the brands that associate with her, of course.

We could let her finish growing up instead of burning her wings at the stake of our vanities.