Emma Raducanu’s classy response to Sloane Stephens after rival’s comments

Emma Raducanu has refused to get into a war of words with Sloane Stephens after her Australian Open opponent gave her lukewarm praise.

The British No.1 dumped the American out of the first Grand Slam of the year with a first round 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 win.

After the match, Stephens didn’t appear too keen to laud the teenager with praise for her performance and warned her ‘she has a lot to learn.’

But Raducanu seemed unfazed by the comments and only had kind words to say about her opponent.

‘I didn’t see her interview. From all the interactions I’ve had with Sloane I thought she was really nice to me,’ she said.

‘I hit with her before San Jose last year and she was very nice to me. I’ve got nothing but positive things to say about Sloane.’

Raducanu’s first appearance at the Australian Open ended in defeat in the next round as she lost to world No.98 Danka Kovinic and she is yet to find the form she displayed in her US Open triumph last year.

Stephens believes Raducanu ‘hasn’t been through much of anything yet’ and will continue to be on a steep learning curve.

‘She played me, someone she’s like ranking-wise supposed to beat and, I mean, yeah, she won,’ Stephens said.

‘Our situations are very different. I think she is carrying a whole country and that’s quite different from my win at the US Open.

Dan Evans admits Andy Murray may regret his Australian Open gesture

Kyrgios claims opponent's coaches 'threatened to fight' him as video footage emerges

Stefanos Tsitsipas' bizarre reaction to Australian Open win leaves Paire 'irritated'

‘And I think her game style and her, how young she is like she is a little bit of a different dynamic than I had, but I think she definitely is just going to have to learn to manage it and figure out what works best