Emma Raducanu, whose stunning victory at the US Open earned her $2.5 million, said her initial goal was to win enough prize money to replace her lost AirPods
- Emma Raducanu made history after beating Leylah Fernandez on Saturday in the US Open final.
- She told ESPN her goal early on was to win enough prize money to replace lost AirPods.
- After winning the championship, the teenager pocketed $2.5 million.
Emma Raducanu's goal before her first-round qualifying match at the US Open three weeks ago was to win enough prize money to replace a pair of AirPods she had lost.
After winning the entire tournament - and $2.5 million in prize money - the 18-year-old Brit can now buy herself as many AirPods as she wants.
Raducanu made history Saturday night after beating a fellow teenager, Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 6-3 in a stunning final in New York City that ended Britain's 44-year wait for a women's Grand Slam singles champion.
In an interview afterward with ESPN, Raducanu said: "There's a running joke in my team because before my first-round qualifying match I lost my AirPods and I was basically running around the changing room like three minutes before my call to go on trying to find it, but I lost it."
"I was thinking to myself, 'You know what, if you win this match, you can buy yourself a pair of AirPods,' and that's become the running joke!" she added.
Watch the interview below:
Raducanu, who sat through her final high-school exams last month, has stunned the tennis world after becoming the first qualifier to ever win a Grand Slam tournament. She did this without dropping a set.
The teenager previously said her run to the tournament's final had been so unexpected that she had booked flights home to England two weeks ago.
Raducanu started the year ranked 336th in the world and was 150th before the US Open started. Her win means she will be among the world's top 50 players after the rankings are next updated.
Raducanu's career earnings before this tournament stood at about $303,000.