Emma Raducanu's popularity soars following US Open win, gains nearly 400,000 new Twitter followers
Newly-crowned US Open champion Emma Raducanu has been the talk of the tennis world over the last fortnight. Not only did the Brit become the first-ever qualifier to win a Major, but she also saw her popularity soar on social media, gaining hoards of new followers on both Twitter and Instagram.
Raducanu, 18, defeated fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in the women's singles final to win her maiden Major title at the US Open on Saturday. The Brit broke several records with her triumph and rose to a career-high No. 23 in the world.
Raducanu's celebrity status grew immensely during this year's US Open, so much so that the 18-year-old gained a whopping 3,63,800 new followers on Twitter.
Raducanu now has more than 571,000 followers on the micro-blogging site. The Brit also gained a large number of new followers on Instagram over the last couple of weeks; she now has a whopping 1.8 million followers on that platform, which is more than the likes of Simona Halep, Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Elina Svitolina.
Leylah Fernandez, who defeated tournament favourites Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the US Open final, gained over 72,000 new Twitter followers.
Fernandez and Raducanu's social media impressions were unrivaled over the course of the tournament, with no other player, male or female, managing to gain as many new followers as the two teenagers.
US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka did not make major gains on social media
Teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz gained around 29,600 new followers on Twitter after his run to the quarterfinals at the New York Slam. Andy Roddick, meanwhile, gained approximately 15,800 new followers; he was the only former player to have an impact on Twitter during the fortnight.
Former World No. 1 Andy Murray also gained nearly 15,000 new Twitter followers. The Brit created a storm on social media after he took aim at Stefanos Tsitsipas for the Greek's controversial toilet break during their first-round clash.
Men's finalists, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic, only gained 13,900 and 13,100 new followers on Twitter respectively.
2020 US Open champion Naomi Osaka, who has been struggling for form lately, had a rather quiet time, gaining only 8,400 new Twitter followers during the tournament. Having said that, the Japanese still enjoys a huge following on Twitter and Instagram, with 1.1 and 2.8 million followers respectively.
Here is the list of tennis figures who gained the highest number of Twitter followers during this year's US Open:
#1 Emma Raducanu - 363.8K
#2 Leylah Annie Fernandez - 72.4K
#3 Carlos Alcaraz - 29.6K
#4 Andy Roddick - 15.8K
#5 Andy Murray - 14.5K
#6 Daniil Medvedev - 13.9K
#7 Novak Djokovic - 13.1K
#8 Naomi Osaka - 8.4K
#9 Felix Auger-Aliassime - 8.1K
#10 Gael Monfils - 6.9K