John McEnroe hits out over 'ridiculous' Emma Raducanu drama
Tennis legend John McEnroe has thrown his support behind teen superstar Emma Raducanu after the US Open winner has struggled to find form since her maiden grand slam title.
Raducanu stunned the sporting world when she became the first qualifier ever to win the US Open.
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But since the breakthrough, that propelled Raducanu to the top of the tennis world, the 19-year-old has struggled with form.
She has also gone through a number of coaches since winning the US Open, which has drawn plenty of criticism, as she looks to improve her game.
To make matters worse ahead of her home grand slam, Raducannu has been under an injury cloud after retiring hurt in her First Round Nottingham clash with a side strain.
Recently, Andy Murray and Paula Badosa were two stars that publicly backed the 19-year-old during the stressful times.
McEnroe has been critical of Raducanu in the past, having questioned her rotation of coaches at such a young age.
But now, McEnroe said he hopes Raducanu is able to find her feet to help lead the next generation of tennis superstars.
"She's a supremely talented individual and has an excellent chance to make a good run," McEnroe said in an interview with Kate Battersby.
"If she's physically fit, I'd be very surprised if she lost early, to think she can't win Wimbledon is ridiculous."
McEnroe went on to echo the players' sentiment at the moment that the scrutiny on Raducanu can be too much.
"Expectations go up greatly when you pull off something like that, and Emma did something no one in the history of tennis has done. I'm assuming expectations in Britain are pretty high, the change in her life is overwhelming, the scrutiny is a bit much at times, it's the same everywhere, not just Britain," he added.
The British 19-year-old is heading into Wimbledon under an injury cloud, but appears ready to make a challenge after she was seen at practice ahead of the grand slam.
Tennis world rallies behind Emma Raducanu
WTA rival Badosa was one star to defend Raducanu in the build-up to Wimbledon.
Badosa mentioned that her critics have been too tough on the teenager who has only recently joined the WTA Tour.
“I mean her situation is very tough and she already did amazing things in this sport at a very young age,” Badosa said at the Eastbourne International press conference.
“I think most of the people are tough on her, but on the other side, maybe I can understand because [the] press is [the] press.
"She needs time and I think she needs more experience on tour and she will get it, but I think people have to stop putting all this pressure on her and expectations.
“What she did is play very, very well at one Grand Slam and she won it, so you can see how good she is but you cannot expect her to win every match and tournament because that is impossible.
"She needs time and she will get it because she has a lot of talent.”
Last week, Andy Murray also weighed-in and said the public need to afford Raducanu some leeway after such a rapid rise to superstardom.
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