One of Emma Raducanu’s major sponsors insists they are “very happy” with their partnership with the former US Open champion despite “taking back” their “freebie car.
On the back of her fairytale title run at the 2021 US Open, several high-profile companies were eager to cash in on Raducanu’s astonishing Grand Slam success at Flushing Meadows and Porsche was one of the big global brands on that list.
The rising star confirmed their partnership in a social media post in March 2022 as she wrote: “So happy to be part of the #PorscheFamily as an official Brand Ambassador! Ready for every moment our journey holds for us #DreamersOn #ad”
In an interview with her new sponsor she said: “My favourite car is the 911 for sure. Throughout the generations it’s so unique and beautiful in every way. I feel like it’s one of the most iconic cars that are out there.”
Raducanu added: “To be a brand ambassador for Porsche means a lot because now I feel like I might be able to sit in my own 911 one day – and that’s been a dream since I was a kid.
“It’s also really important for me to align with partners that I feel passionate about and which I identify with, and since motorsports has been a part of me since childhood, I think this partnership is incredible and I’m really excited to see what sort of exciting things we can do going forwards.”
And later in the year Raducanu realised a lifelong dream as she swapped Dacia Sandero for a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS Cabrio.
But the Daily Mail reports that the “freebie” has now been taken back by Porsche with the company “known for the swiftness with which it withdraws its vehicles from celebrity ambassadors if it does not feel that it is achieving value for money”.
Raducanu has struggled for form in recent months as she slipped to outside the top 200 in the WTA Rankings after missing the second half of the 2023 season due to injury, but she has climbed back into the top 60 in recent weeks.
“Emma no longer has a Porsche,” an insider told the paper. “They took it back. It used to have pride of place at her home.”
A spokesperson for the company also confirmed “that she is no longer in possession of one of its vehicles” adding “while we do on occasion loan Emma a car, this is very much on an ad hoc basis.”
But just because Porsche has “taken back” the car, that doesn’t mean that they have dropped Raducanu as an ambassador.
“Emma Raducanu is a global brand ambassador for Porsche and there have not been any changes within our successful partnership since it started in 2022,” the spokesperson says. “We are very happy with our partnership.”
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