Emma Raducanu defended by Chris Evert over mounting pressure

Emma Raducanu has been defended from the "relentless" attention and pressure she receives for being a tennis player in England. 18-time Major champion Chris Evert stuck up for the 19-year-old after her recent losses and said she was dealing with things "beautifully" after being thrust into the spotlight when she won the US Open as a qualifier last year.

Raducanu has received criticism after winning four of her 10 matches since an unprecedented US Open win. The New York Grand Slam was just the fourth pro tournament of her career and the teenager skyrocketed from world No 150 straight into the top 25 as a result, earning her a spot at any tournament on the main WTA Tour.

Still just 19-years-old, Raducanu is continuing the adjustment to life on the pro tour and is playing most tournaments for the first time ever, suffering some early losses as she gets used to the demands of travelling and competing week in, week out. After some suggestions that her losses were linked to her recent sponsorships with the likes of Porsche and Dior, the Bromley teenager hit back and said: "I feel like it's quite misleading because I'm doing training five, six. I'm at the club for 12 hours a day. But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden it's 'I don't focus on tennis'."

But a former world No 1 has now lept to Raducanu's defence, admitting that the current world No 12 was "handling everything beautifully" as she noted that the Brit had to deal with one of the toughest things in comparison to the expectations piled on American athletes. "To be a superstar in England is like the toughest thing ever for a player," Chris Evert told Eurosport.

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