Fans criticise Daria Saville for ‘horrible’ post-match words regarding Emma Raducanu

Daria Saville has been accused by fans of being graceless in victory, after her epic clash with Emma Raducanu at the Guadalajara Open saw the Brit retire injured deep into the third set. 

Saville is a former world number 20 but slipped to 610th in the rankings after undergoing surgery on an achilles tendon last year. As a result, the 27-year-old was considered a huge underdog ahead of the clash. 

The pair put on a marathon spectacle, lasting three hours and 36 minutes –– making it the longest competitive women’s match of 2022 so far. 

Raducanu won the first set and was within two points of winning the match in the second, but after failing to hold her serve at 5-3, the Australian battled back to force a decider. 

The British number one has struggled with injuries of late, having been hampered by blisters at the Australian Open last month. And the teenager had physical issues again in Mexico –– this time with a left hip problem. 

Despite seeking medical attention, the injury proved to be too severe for Raducanu to continue and she eventually retired to hand Saville a memorable win. 

While both players fought admirably, some fans took issue with Saville’s failure to say anything nice about Raducanu in her on-court interview afterwards. 

The interviewer stressed that “nobody likes to win a match with the retirement of an opponent,” and asked Saville if she’d like to wish the Brit “the best.”

However, the Aussie chose to ignore the question and instead praised her own performance: “I’m really proud of myself. I fought really hard, I believed in myself, and so yeah, I think I won it.” 

Chris Goldsmith, also known as the ‘Tennis Talker’ on Twitter, described Saville’s words as “horrible” and condemned her for failing to