‘Learning to Thicken My Skin’ – Emma Raducanu Has a Strong Message for Critics Following Endorsement Deals Row

19-year-old British tennis star, Emma Raducanu, continues to have a terrible 2022, as she crashed out in the round of 64 at the Miami Open. After winning the US Open last year, she suddenly rose to fame. However, her on-court performance has not been great since then. Meanwhile, she posted a picture on her social media where she announced her being the official ambassador of Porsche. After that, she received a lot of backlash from fans on social media. Recently, she answered all those backlashes.

Emma Raducanu hits back at critics

Before the Miami Open, Emma Raducanu tweeted a photo where she posed with a Porsche, as announced the good news of becoming a brand ambassador. However, many fans hit back at her and told her to focus on tennis. In reply, Emma gave a genuine answer to shut all her critics.

“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. 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,” the British player said.

“At the end of the day, 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. In the beginning, I probably would occasionally peek at what’s being said. But now I don’t really bother doing that because sometimes it’s not going to be so favorable or positive and I feel like it can get to you. I’m just learning to thicken my skin a bit,” Raducanu added.

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“For me, I’m doing these things, but I’m training hard, putting the hours in and especially now I feel I just need to get more volume and capacity. I am doing a lot and I’m spending a lot of time at the club. These deals, of course, I’m so grateful for them, but my tennis is my focus. That’s definitely at the front of my head,” the British player further said. 

What’s next for Raducanu?

Earlier, at the Indian Wells, the Brit lost in the third round to Petra Martic. Then, at the Miami Open, she lost to Katerina Siniakova after a long match. Although she lost all those matches, her play was strong. It’s just the result didn’t go her way. Currently, ranked-13 in the WTA rankings, Raducanu will soon start her clay-court campaign as she prepares for the French Open.

Incidentally, this will be the first time she will play the French Open. She played in all the other three Grand Slam tournaments and won the US Open in 2021. However, before that, she will play for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup against the Czech Republic. Also, Porsche announced that the British player will take part in the Stuttgart Open to start her clay-court season.

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Can Emma win her first French Open title? Let us know in the comments.