Raducanu banks £100,000 from French Open win
British tennis star Emma Raducanu has banked herself at least £100,000 after winning her opening round match at the French Open.
The 22-year-old former US Open champion beat China’s Wang Xinyu at Roland Garros to reach the second round of the clay grand slam in Paris.
By simply walking out onto Court Eight on Monday she had bagged herself €78,000 (£65,000) but that has risen to €117,000 (£98,000) after victory over the world No43 from China.
But Raducanu, who has earned more than $5m in career prize money, is up against it in the second round as she takes on four-time Parisian clay court champion Iga Swiatek later this week.
French Open cash on offer
The prize money at the second of the calendar’s four grand slams steadily increases to €168,000 for reaching the third round and €265,000 for the fourth.
Losers in the last eight bag €440,000 while losing semi-finalists take home nearly €700,000.
The loser at Roland Garros walks away with a hefty €1,275,000 while the winner takes home €2,550,000, less than the €3.2m earned for winning Wimbledon but more than on offer for winning in the year’s opening slam in Australia.
The British No2 beat her Chinese opponent 7-5 4-6 6-3 despite saying she was “struggling from the start”.
“I was flat but I’m happy to find a way,” she added.
Raducanu, who shot to fame by going through the US Open qualifying to win the Flushing Meadows grand slam at the age of 18, has reportedly lost a £3m-per-season sponsorship deal with telecommunications giant Vodafone.
Despite becoming the first British woman to win a grand slam since Virginia Wade in 1977, Raducanu has been unable to follow up her 2021 US Open success. She has not reached the last 16 in any of the three other grand slams on the tennis calendar.