Nick Kyrgios hits out at former tennis players for criticising Emma Raducanu

Nick Kyrgios has leapt to the defence of Emma Raducanu by calling out former players who have criticised her of late.

Raducanu’s latest struggles in 2022 saw her suffer a disappointing second round exit to Katerina Sinaiakova at the Miami Open this week.

The British No.1 has won just twice in seven matches this season with her US Open-winning form from last year yet to make an appearance.

In the same week, the 19-year-old added Porsche to her growing list of sponsors which has seen some take aim at where her focus is right now.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters said: ‘We’ve seen others that kind of take a step back and say, “Oh, I’ve won a Slam now, I’ve made it.

‘”There’s sponsors coming in and I get treated like a princess wherever I go.”

<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Whatâs with old retired players giving their opinion on our stars now? I love A-rod and I agree we all need to chill with the rackets and all that, but geezus, I read an article about a past female player talking about radacanu, no offence but she is a far far bigger name already

‘Just because you’re the No.1 player and have won Slams, doesn’t mean you should treat other people differently.’

Former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova also gave her verdict, saying on Amazon Prime: ‘All the locker room respect she had after the US Open is now kind of going away which is a shame.’

Kyrgios has defended Raducanu though and took to social media to call out some ex-pros.

The Aussie tweeted on Sunday: ‘What’s with old retired players giving their opinion on our stars now?

‘I love A-rod [Andy Roddick] and I agree we all need to chill with the rackets and all that, but geezus, I read an article about a past female player talking about Raducanu, no offence but she