“She is already a great player” John McEnroe backs Emma Raducanu and bashes the British media for their treatment of the teen, recalls personal experience at Wimbledon


“She is already a great player” John McEnroe backs Emma Raducanu and bashes the British media for their treatment of the teen, recalls personal experience at Wimbledon

John McEnroe and Emma Raducanu

World No. 10 Emma Raducanu has been rising in the rankings despite poor results on the court. All of it is going to change for the Brit now as the majority of her points are from her scintilating win at the 2021 US Open and with the Grand Slam about to commence in 6-weeks’ time, the Brit has a big task at her hands to protect her ranking. While her win in New York was celebrated widely in the UK, her results have got her quite a lot of criticism over the course of this season.

ADVERTISEMENT

As Emma is playing in her first full season and is just 19-years old, it is unwise to rule out the potential of the teenager who has shown great talent in the matches she has played. Untimely injuries and no consistency with her coaching team has landed in Emma in some problems but like many tennis fans, even former World No. 1 John McEnroe believes that it is just a matter of time before the Brit is winning matches again.

Also Read: “Novak Djokovic has made the right choice” American cardiologist Peter McCullough explains the possible hear damaging side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine

John McEnroe looking forward to meeting Emma Raducanu

John McEnroe and Emma Raducanu
John McEnroe and Emma Raducanu

McEnroe recently discussed the situation of Emma and why she currently needs backing and support more than anything at the moment. The American also talked about the media specially the British media and compared to his own experience of facing the criticism during his playing days and went on to hint that Raducanu is facing things worse than what he did.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Don’t ask if Raducanu is going to be a good player because she is already a great player. No one wins a major if they are not a great player and hopefully, she has belief, but a lot has changed for her since then. I’m not close to her. In fact. As a matter of fact, I’ve never spoken to her. I hope to have the opportunity soon because she is obviously a breath of fresh air. She is a very sweet girl, a beautiful girl and plays great tennis. What’s not to like. It has been hard to watch her struggling, but I don’t know if she needs time.

“She needs the right stability and people around her and I don’t know what’s going on there. You don’t go through a tournament where you don’t lose a single set and beat some of the top female players and not be a great player. I got this to a fairly significant degree in the late 1970s and early 80s and it got to the stage that I thought if I ever win Wimbledon I’m never coming back, to hell with these people.

“It so happened when I won it first the first time that I felt I could fly out of the stadium because the high was so great and I thought maybe I want to come back. It may be worse for her (Raducanu) because she is living it day in, day out. But I am pulling for her. We all are. Maybe she can use that to her advantage somehow,” said McEnroe in his latest interview with Tennis365.

Also Read: George Russell says he won’t imitate Lewis Hamilton to become a great, gives an example of how different Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic are

ADVERTISEMENT

Also Read: “Richest bad boy?” Nick Kyrgios set to make a fortune following the release of his Netflix documentary

Follow our page FirstSportz Tennis for the latest updates