Emma Raducanu's wealth has not stopped the Briton from helping less privileged people in her home country.
Raducanu's stunning success at the 2021 US Open means she does not need to worry about money. The 22-year-old won her maiden Grand Slam title as a teenage qualifier without dropping a set.
That remains one of the unexpected moments in tennis history. Raducanu had progressed by reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021, but no one expected her US Open triumph.
Less surprising were the deals she struck with various brands after becoming a Grand Slam champion. One lucrative one was with the automobile manufacturer Porsche, which gave Raducanu her own car.
However, it was reported that Raducanu no longer had a Porsche after not coming close to replicating her success at the US Open in the last three years. The German company is known for taking such measures if the athletes they partner with aren't performing as hoped.
Porsche did not confirm whether those reports were accurate or not. A spokesperson said Raducanu being given a car was on an ad-hoc basis and not intended at any stage to be forever.
The expectations placed on Raducanu's shoulders after winning the US Open might partially explain some of her struggles in the last three years. Struggles were inevitable as a teenager, but being a Grand Slam winner did not give her the freedom to develop.
Injury issues have also not helped Raducanu. The most severe was a nine-month layoff after sustaining wrist and ankle injuries in April 2023. Raducanu also admitted she made the problem worse by trying to return too quickly.
The most recent injury setback came at the Korea Open in September. She was forced to retire from the quarterfinal against Daria Kasatkina after just 31 minutes because of spraining ligaments in her foot.
Raducanu spent nearly two months on the sidelines but returned in time for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. Despite impressively winning all her singles matches, Team Great Britain narrowly missed out on the final after a 2-1 loss to Slovakia.
Those performances showed how good Raducanu is when fully hit. She has held talks with Naomi Osaka and Maria Sharapova's former fitness coach and hopes adding him to the team would prevent consistent injury issues.
Any issues Raducanu has dealt with on and off the court do not stop her from helping those struggling in life. That was proven when she assisted at one of the Surplus to Supper-led community initiatives.
Surplus to Supper takes food that would otherwise go to landfills and redistributes it to foodbanks. The organization also has an in-house kitchen that creates nutritious meals for those who need them the most.
Raducanu was grateful for the opportunity to support one of the initiatives. She posted about the experience on her social media channels, calling it an amazing operation.
“@surplusstosupper thank you for letting me come by, an amazing operation.”
The former US Open winner's first tournament of the 2025 season will be at the ASB Classic in Auckland.
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