Emma Raducanu has a ‘target on her back’, but former world No 1 confident she will ‘be a top five player’

“The word is out” on Emma Raducanu’s game and playing patterns and she will feel “a little bit more pressure”, but tennis great Chris Evert is confident she will get to the top of the game.

Raducanu stunned the sporting world in 2021 when she became the first qualifier – man or woman – to win a Grand Slam as she won 10 matches without dropping a set en route to lifting the US Open trophy.

She climbed into the WTA top 20 after reaching the Transylvania Open quarter-final, but has struggled to put together a decent run outside of those events as she suffered a string of early exits.

Wow…that was some year 2 pics to sum up my 2021 seasonI want to say thank you & that I'm extremely grateful for your generous support. I’ve learnt many things at a fast pace on this incredible journey but all I can say is that I'm very excited & motivated for my next steps pic.twitter.com/SYgGccOx89

— Emma Raducanu (@EmmaRaducanu) November 17, 2021

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Evert, someone who knows a thing or two about being the best in the world of tennis as she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, says the 19-year-old was always going be brought back down to earth following such a great start to her career.

“I think Raducanu has a high ceiling,” she told Eurosport. “I don’t know when we’re going to see it because there’s so many great players out there, and I think she’s still young and she still can improve her game.

“It’s so human to have a little bit of a downfall after you win your first Grand