Emma Raducanu has made a major sponsorship change with the new tennis season just around the corner as she has been spotted practising with a new racket.
The world No 29 has used Wilson Blade rackets since she was a teenager with the famous brand quite visible during her historic Grand Slam title run at the 2021 US Open, but the partnership has come to an end.
Raducanu has been training with Yonex rackets in the build-up to her first official tournament of 2026, the United Cup, with the endorsement deal with the Japanese sports equipment manufacturer likely coming into effect on January 1.
Footage from Perth, Australia, shows the British No 1 hitting with the Yonex E-Zone model with coach Francisco Roig keeping a watchful eye.
The Yonex E-Zone racket is expected to add more power to her shots, but it will likely lead to less control over shots and could take her some time to adapt, especially during her first official match against Japan’s Naomi Osaka on January 4.
Besides the United Cup, the 23-year-old has also signed up for the Hobart International so she will have plenty of practice with the new racket ahead of the Australian Open.
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Raducanu will join a long list of top players – both on the WTA Tour and ATP Tour – who use Yonex rackets, starting with world No 5 and 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina and three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka.
Former world No 1 Osaka won her four Grand Slams using the Yonex Ezone 98 racket and world No 7 Madison Keys also used Yonex when she won her maiden major at the 2025 Australian Open.
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Rybakina, Osaka and Keys are all known for their power hitting and it could be a sign of what is to come for Raducanu.
On the men’s side, Ben Shelton, Casper Ruud, Nick Kyrgios and Frances Tiafoe are some of the big stars using the Japanese manufacturer’s equipment, while in terms of legendary players, the great Martina Navratilova and Martina Hingis are ambassadors.
A change in rackets might not be the only move that Raducanu makes in 2026 as it has been strongly rumoured that she will swap Nike for Uniqlo.
Although she was spotted using Nike apparel during training in recent days, it could be a case that her contract ran until December 31 and we could well see her don the Uniqlo brand from January 1.
Roger Federer, of course, is the most famous Uniqlo ambassador as he made the $300 million move from Nike to the Japanese company in 2018.
Reigning Wimbledon champion and six-time major champion Iga Swiatek and world No 9 Ben Shelton are also ambassadors.
The post Emma Raducanu makes big equipment change as she joins list of power-hitters to use this racket appeared first on Tennis365.
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