Emma Raducanu appears to have lost a key sponsor ahead of the Australian Open.
Dior has announced Zheng Qinwen as their new global brand ambassador, replacing Emma Raducanu, who joined the company in the autumn of 2021, just six weeks after winning the US Open as an 18-year-old. However, Raducanu has struggled to regain her Grand Slam form.
She is now ranked at No. 60 in the world but will be vying for glory at the Australian Open this month.
Zheng had a successful season on the court last year, reaching the Australian Open final in January and defeating Donna Vekic in the Olympic Games decider to win the gold medal.
The 22-year-old reached the quarterfinals of the US Open for the second year in a row, as well as the championship match of the season-ending WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.
Following her collaboration with Dior, the brand stated that she “embodies the elegance and boldness of Dior style, a femininity in perpetual motion”. The business continued: “More than ever, this unique alliance seals the house’s commitment to empowerment and self-assertion, spotlighting the multiple connections that unite the worlds of sport and couture.”
Raducanu, meantime, had a difficult year, falling in the second round of the Australian Open and the first round of the US Open. The promising 22-year-old did, however, have her finest Grand Slam run since her victory at Flushing Meadows, reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon this summer.
And she is preparing to face world No. 27 Ekaterina Alexandrova in her opening match at Melbourne Park this year.
Raducanu has signed a host of sponsorship deals since bursting onto the tennis scene as a teenager and also works with the likes of Tiffany & Co and British Airways.
And her agent Max Eisenbud explained how the deal with Dior came about as he appeared on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast last year.
He said: “She ended up with Dior so let’s just say we called Dior and we’re like, ‘Are you guys watching this? Why don’t you guys come out and watch?’
“So we’re identifying maybe seven, eight, nine, 10 brands and we’ll start inviting them. We have a suite – we’re entertaining them, they’re watching the matches, trying to gauge what they think of everything. And then from there we start putting everything together.”
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