Andy Murray has defended Emma Raducanu after the 18-year-old was forced to withdraw from her Wimbledon round-of-16 match due to medical reasons on Monday evening. The young Brit was criticised by Piers Morgan, but Murray disagrees, saying that Morgan’s take is ‘harsh’.
Raducanu struggled with her breathing early in the second set against Ajla Tomljanovic, sliding to a 3-0 deficit before receiving a medical timeout.
The young British star left the court for further assessment, and was unable to continue.
Immediately after the match, John McEnroe suggested that the occasion was too much for Raducanu.
“I feel bad for Emma, obviously,” said McEnroe. “It appears it just got a little bit too much, as is understandable, particularly with what we’ve been talking about this over the last six weeks with Osaka not even here.
“How much can players handle? It makes you look at the guys that have been around and the girls for so long – how well they can handle it. Hopefully she’ll learn from this experience.”
McEnroe’s comments received widespread criticism, but he was backed by Piers Morgan, who took to Twitter to say:
“McEnroe told the truth. Ms Raducuna’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure & quit when she was losing badly. Not ‘brave’, just a shame.
“If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing McEnroe, & seek his advice on how to toughen up & become a champion like he was.”
But Andy Murray, who also struggled physically during his early-career visits to Wimbledon, says that Morgan’s take is unfair.
“Think this is a very harsh take on the situation Piers,” Murray said.
“I think some of what he [McEnroe] said was fair.
“However the timing of it was a bit off considering nobody had any clue what her issue was injury/illness/breathings issues etc at the time of his comments.”
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