Tennis star Emma Raducanu has told Sky News she doesn’t feel like she’s “playing for money” and it’s not her “main motivation”.
The British number two, who is reportedly worth around £10m, was speaking as she replied to a question from sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao during a news conference ahead of a WTA 500 event starting this week in west London.
Women players are returning to compete at the Queen’s Club for the first time in more than 50 years, ahead of Wimbledon next month.
Those in the line-up for the inaugural HSBC Championships at Queen’s include 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys, former Wimbledon champions Barbora Krejcikova and Elena Rybakina, and British number one Katie Boulter, as well as 2021 US Open champion Raducanu.
It means a tour level women’s tournament is coming to London for the first time since 1973, when Olga Morozova was crowned the last female champion at Queen’s.
While prize money is equal at the grand slams and some joint tour events, generally remuneration on the WTA Tour is substantially lower than on the men’s ATP Tour.
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Raducanu, 22, told Sky’s Jacquie Beltrao: “There is obviously a big difference [in prize money] and I’m sure a lot players will kind of say their piece on it, but I just prefer not to get involved and just whatever the situation is I’ll kind of roll with it, but I’m never really going to take a stand either way.”
She added: “I don’t really get involved or kind of stay in the loop with all the boards and all the decisions and stuff. I kind of just get on with it and I don’t feel like I really am playing for money.
“Of course I need to sustain my team which is extremely expensive and you know… with my kind of profile, coaches and team members kind of see that. So it is a very expensive sport, but it’s not my main motivator of why I play.”
Raducanu, who is managing an ongoing back issue, also said her expectations for how she does in the Queen’s tournament were “pretty low”.
“I played points for the first time today. I’ve had maybe like two, three days on the grass court, so it’s not been much, but I just have to take it as it goes,” she said.
Why did the tournament move from Queen’s in 1974?
In 1974, Britain’s governing body, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), decided to move the women’s event from Queen’s to Eastbourne as the London venue could not support men’s and women’s events at once – but in 2025 that has changed.
The LTA has cited a desire to raise the profile of women’s tennis and promote it to more people for the move to the capital.
The organisation is committed to paying equal prize money to female players at Queen’s and the Lexus Eastbourne Open by 2029.
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How much is the prize money for the women’s event?
The LTA announced last Thursday it would pay total prize money of $1.415m (approximately £1m) at Queen’s, the highest for a WTA 500 event of its draw size this year.
But that is still less than half of the prize pot that will be paid out to the male players the following week for the equivalent 500 tournament on the ATP Tour, where the line-up includes world number two Carlos Alcaraz of Spain.
The LTA has stated an aim to achieve parity on prize money before 2029 but its rationale comes against a £4m loss made across the grass-court events it staged last year – Wimbledon is run by the All England Club – with the men’s event at Queen’s the only profitable tournament.
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‘Significant increases to prize money’
Scott Lloyd, the governing body’s chief executive, said: “We are making significant increases this year to the women’s prize money at Queen’s and Eastbourne and want to achieve equal prize money as soon as possible.
“The LTA is committed to growing women’s tennis, both at professional and grass-roots level, and this move is an important part of that commitment.
“This year fans will be able to enjoy both men’s and women’s tennis on the biggest stages that we can offer and we want to develop the tournaments so that the women’s events deliver a path to profitability and greater visibility for the sport.”
The Queen’s Club is named after Queen Victoria, its first patron, and is regarded as one of the premier Lawn Tennis and Racquets clubs in the world.
