"Let Her Be Who She Is": Murray defends Raducanu against British media
WTA
British legend Andy Murray has come to the defense of Emma Raducanu, who has been under heavy scrutiny for not immediately living up to the level she showed at last year's US Open.
Raducanu's rise to stardom at Flushing Meadows was extraordinary. As a qualifier, she did not drop a set in any of her seven main draw matches to claim the title at Flushing Meadows, stunning fans around the tennis world in the process.
Expectations for the 19-year-old Briton rose considerably for the 2022 season. Understandably, Raducanu has found that difficult to manage, and her results have not matched the unrealistic hopes of many in the British media.
Murray has dealt with the pressures of the local media for many years. Therefore, he is better positioned than anybody to offer his thoughts about Raducanu and what she may be going through.
In an interview with BBC Sport, Murray encouraged the media to give Raducanu some freedom to be herself and cut her some slack for any comments or jokes she makes, especially considering she is still 19 years old.
"Just let her be who she is, and you know, she might say some things that are a joke or maybe she doesn't mean or whatever. There's a few people in this room I'm sure when they were 18 or 19, made some mistakes and did some things they shouldn't have done and said some things they definitely shouldn't have said and athletes are the same.
The three-time Grand Slam champion emphasized that athletes sometimes make mistakes, but they should not be judged unnecessarily harshly for them. He feels that approach would be helpful to Raducanu in particular.
"We will make mistakes and say the wrong things at times but just maybe don't judge us too harshly when we do that and I'm sure that would help Emma a little bit."
Latest Comments
- Kyrgios will do anything to stay in the news.shirley19-12-2024
- A technical error.
MrMustard18-12-2024 - All that is said , all that is done. Nick has 0 grand slams wins. Everything else is hot 🥵 air.MrMustard18-12-2024
- All that is said , all that isMrMustard18-12-2024
- Kyrgios is a jerk.shirley17-12-2024
- If Jessica Pegula had to undergo such horror for using a bannes substance, so do these two tennis players. Penalty should apply to all players regardless of their excuses. They are professionals and know better!!
Stella112-12-2024 - All players should be treated the same for taking banned substances, if your no 1 in the world or no 300 man or woman you should not be allowed to keep playing,,VPH108-12-2024
- Ah, censored again. No one gets to read my comment. LOLjjluvsports08-12-2024
- Reynolds, could you list all the wars started by the U.S. and U.K., or will you run out of paper? Hypocrisy.jjluvsports06-12-2024
- IDK, it looks like to me that Raducanu should praise herself and her team for 'gaming the system' as in playing the points and ranking game. When you look at her season of wild cards, skipping tournaments (including the Paris Olympics!), retiring from losing matches and avoiding qualifying rounds, it seems like there was some plan to move up the ranks without actually playing a lot of tennis. And it worked! Congrats!RealityCheckers04-12-2024