Emma Raducanu slams 'unfair and misleading' sponsorship deals criticism

Emma Raducanu has slammed “unfair” and “misleading” criticism about her numerous sponsorship deals.

The 19-year-old suffered a frustrating loss to Kateřina Siniaková in the second round of the Miami Open on Friday.

Raducanu suffered a litany of missed chances, converting just five of 17 break-points, and she was eventually defeated 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Following her defeat, comments on social media highlighting Raducanu’s growing list of sponsors began to increase.

The British star has partnerships with Nike, Wilson, Evian, British Airways, Dior, Tiffany & Co., and Vodafone. She recently announced another deal with German car manufacturer Porsche.

According to the Guardian, Raducanu has hit back at the sponsorship deals criticism.

“Maybe you just see, on the news or on social media, me signing this or that deal and I feel like it’s quite misleading because I’m doing five, six hours a day [of training], I’m at the club for 12 hours a day,” she said.

“But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden it’s ‘I don’t focus on tennis’. I think that it is unfair but it’s something I have learned to deal with and become a bit more insensitive to the outside noise.

“I feel like my days [with sponsors] are pretty limited. I’m not doing crazy days. I’m doing three, four days every quarter, so it’s really not that much.”

Raducanu earned an improbable victory at the US Open in September. She became the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows – winning 10 games in a row without dropping a set during the tournament.

It was the first time a female British tennis player had won a major since Virginia Wade in 1977.

Raducanu has struggled on the WTA Tour since, however, winning just two of seven