US Open Champion Allowing Parents to Take Care of Her $2.5 Million Prize Money

Fresh off becoming the first female qualifier to win the US Open, Emma Raducanu is allowing her parents to take care of her $2.5 million earnings.

Raducanu told the BBC on Friday that she hasn't done anything with the money, nor has she even checked her bank account since the win.

"I will just leave that to my parents," Raducanu said. "They can take that for me. I haven't done anything or bought anything yet. I know tennis is an expensive sport. From everything, travel and expenses. It'll probably go towards that. I don't really think of the money side of that. I know there are a lot of taxes and expenses."

Raducanu, 18, defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez to win her first Grand Slam in what was the first all-teenage final since the 1999 US Open between Serena Williams and Martina Hingis.

Raducanu has rightfully received a lot of attention as a result and has remained humble throughout. It's not often you see an 18-year-old earn that much money and remain as such, but Raducanu has.

Her celebration? A nice home-cooked meal from the most important person in her life.

"My mum made some really good homemade dumplings but there was nothing crazy or over the top," Raducanu said.

Raducanu's rise from obscurity has been one of the best feel-good stories in sports in 2021. That rise has seen her become the 23rd-ranked player in the world. She entered the tournament No. 150.

She is a bonafide star in her home country and received a phone call from U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a result. Raducanu told Johnson that it was surreal to go back and watch her performance, calling it stressful.

"It's funny because when I was watching it, it almost feels like that's not me that was playing and pulling off some of those shots, it feels like it's someone else," Raducanu said. "I knew exactly what was going to happen but still it's a very tense moment and, re-watching it, I was really proud of how I came through some tough moments and also the timeout at the end – I didn't realize how stressful that was on TV compared to live."