Thread by @opinion

18-year-old Emma Raducanu is taking the tennis world by storm.

Her victory in the U.S. Open turned her into one of those athletes who you can’t help but watch and want to know more, or even pick up a racquet trib.al/VKDcbjm

How big is this win? @ThereseRaphael1 asked Michel Masquelier, former chairman of IMG Media.

“It’s as good as it gets,” he says. “Tennis is an individual sport, so any individual who shines on that stage is instantly recognizable” trib.al/VKDcbjm

Alongside her championship title, Raducanu has other force multipliers for propelling celebrity and commercial success. There’s her international reputation:

🇨🇳Chinese mother
🇷🇴Romanian father
🇬🇧Raised in Britain
🇺🇸Shot to fame in the U.S.
trib.al/VKDcbjm

There’s her youth and the enormousness of the records she’s broken:

She’s the first player, male or female, ever to win a grand slam from the qualifying rounds.

She did it without breaking a set trib.al/VKDcbjm

Then there was the finals performance; the parents who couldn’t be there; the side story of British star-turned-commentator, Tim Henman, whose support spurred her on.

And don't forget her spontaneous likability, the attitude that says “bring it on" trib.al/VKDcbjm

All of this makes Emma Raducanu a rarity even in elite sport — a unicorn.

These figures are different not just because they dominate their sport, but because they alter the landscape around them trib.al/VKDcbjm

It’s hard to overstate the impact she’s had in Britain, a country with a fierce sporting culture that craves and cradles a champion.

48% of the country’s 16- to 34-year-olds watched the U.S. Open match on TV trib.al/VKDcbjm

With global sponsorship spending estimated at around $65.8 billion a year, apparel sales, TV deals and more, the monetization opportunities will be enormous, particularly if Raducanu fulfills her promise in attracting more women’s tennis viewers trib.al/VKDcbjm

“In 35 years in the industry, I would have to go back to the days of Tiger Woods to think of something similar,” says Masquelier.

Woods was also a unicorn, not just because of his golf strokes but also because of his poise, personality and background trib.al/VKDcbjm

Already, it’s hard to imagine the women’s tour without Raducanu.

The season-ending WTA finals take place in November. Only the top eight players in the world qualify. Raducanu is now ranked 23rd (a rise of 127 places from a few weeks back) trib.al/VKDcbjm

Raducanu could be with us for a while, provided they can avoid injury.

With good health, Raducanu can count on at least 15 years of high-level tour competition ahead of her. That’s potentially 60 shots at grand slam titles and numerous other events trib.al/VKDcbjm

The inevitable questions have already begun:

🎾How long will it take her to top the world rankings?
🎾Where will she play next?
🎾Which sponsorship deals will she agree to?
🎾Which magazine covers?
🎾Which interview shows? trib.al/VKDcbjm

Up to now, Raducanu has seemed impervious to pressure — but she’s human and will have to become an adult with the world watching.

There are bound to be bumps in the road. And yet she projects a certain self-assurance that makes many think she’s got this trib.al/VKDcbjm