“She’s worth a billion dollars,” Ion Tiriac believes Emma Raducanu is poised for greatness despite recent setbacks
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Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu burst into the tennis scene with her fairytale run at the 2021 US Open, to win her maiden Grand Slam title. The Brit teenager broke several records with her triumph in Flushing Meadows, including becoming the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. She soon became the talk of the town and was even pegged to be tennis’ next golden girl following her amazing campaign.
After her improbable run, Raducanu bagged several lucrative endorsements and soon became a marketer’s dream. Romanian billionaire and former tennis pro, Ion Tiriac lavished praise on Raducanu and said ‘she’s worth a billion dollars,’ claiming she has the potential to accumulate a fortune of billion dollars. But Tiriac lamented on the fact that the Brit ended her partnership with her coach, Andrew Richardson, who led her to US Open victory. He believed it halted her rise to the top.
“She’s worth a billion dollars. Those 10 years that were coming for sure, but for sure! Why did she get rid of the coach who took her there !? I know the British system quite well. It’s a system that has enough money for development. Get a money cart from Wimbledon too. She grew up in this system and grew up well. From a physical point of view, the British are very active, meaning they don’t let you enter the field without a good physique if you are in their program. In tennis you are only as good as the people around you: family, coach – with all that tennis coach I don’t know any,” Tiriac said in an interview with ProSport.
Tiriac was initially a professional hockey player before he made a switch to tennis. He won his maiden Grand Slam title with compatriot Ilie Nastase at the 1970 French Open. After his retirement, Tiriach took upon a coaching career and mentored many top players including Goran Ivanisevic and Marat Safin. He was also an agent to Boris Becker and Ilie Nastase.
Raducanu eyes season turnaround at the Indian Wells
Since her stunning win in New York last year, Raducanu has been struggling with inconsistency and her start to the 2022 season hasn’t been a good one either. After being knocked out in the first round of the WTA Sydney International, Raducanu bowed out in the second round of the Australian Open.
After a brief break, Raducanu entered the WTA 250 tournament in Guadalajara as the top seed but was forced to withdraw mid-match from her opening round clash against Daria Saville. She then had to skip the Monterrey Open as well. Raducanu is next scheduled to play at the Indian Wells and will be keen to shrug off her poor form and turn her fortunes around.
Also read: “Ukraine is grateful” Sergiy Stakhovsky thanks Novak Djokovic for his concern and support
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T Rushitha
(360 Articles Published)