Emma Raducanu loses almost half of her £152k Wimbledon prize money

Daily Mirror

a day ago

Emma Raducanu was beaten by Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of Wimbledon, with the British No.1 set to lose a large chunk of her prize money
Emma Raducanu earned herself £152k in prize money with her run to the third round at Wimbledon. But the young Brit won't be taking that figure home after her KO by world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.
The 22 year-old, who previously triumphed at the US Open in 2021, claimed one-sided wins over Mimi Xu and Marketa Vondrousova in her opening two matches. But she found the powerful Belarussian just too strong in the third round, falling in straight sets despite a valiant effort.
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Indeed, had she taken the chances she created, things could have been very different. And her money would have grown too - had Raducanu advanced to the fourth round, her prize money would have soared to £240,000. Now, tax deductions are set to swallow a significant chunk of her £152k prize money, according to tax experts.
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Paul Barham, tax partner at Forvis Mazars, told The Express:"Assuming that Emma is an additional rate taxpayer (with other income over £125,140), the tax rate that will apply to the prize money will be 45 per cent resulting in a UK tax liability of £68,400.
"Assuming Emma is resident in the UK, she is also likely to have Class Four National Insurance to pay at two per cent on this income resulting in a National Insurance liability of £3,040. Therefore, her take home pay after tax and NIC would be £80,560.
"These figures represent the liabilities before taking into account any deductible expenses such as travel and accommodation costs and coaching fees. These expenses can be deducted from the taxable amount and will therefore reduce the final tax bill."
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After her loss to Sabalenka, a visibly emotional Raducanu admitted in her post-match press conference that finding positives was challenging.
"I think I'm just very self-critical," she said. "It's hard to see. Of course, I'm very proud of being competitive on the court. I think I would rather that than it being completely one way.
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"But, yes, there are positives. Right now, it's so soon after the match. I think it's better for me to kind of feel a bit of the pain right now and then process it better that way.
"I think it's difficult to see that right now, having just come off the court. It's hard to take a loss like that. At the same time, I'm playing Aryna, who is No.1 in the world, a great champion. I have to be proud of my effort today."
Sabalenka has her sights on the quarter-finals against Laura Siegemund following her victory over Elise Mertens in round four. A win at Wimbledon could see her pocket a cool £3million in prize money and she is the overwhelming favourite, with a number of her main rivals having already crashed out.