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John McEnroe shows true colours with comment about Emma Raducanu

BBC pundit John McEnroe has shared his thoughts on Emma Raducanu's persistent injury issues

[John McEnroe]

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John McEnroe has delivered his verdict on British No.1 Emma Raducanu(Image: BBC)

John McEnroe has expressed his support for Emma Raducanu after the British No. 1 was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon ahead of her opening match. The world No. 33 pulled out on the eve of her home Grand Slam owing to a stress fracture in her lower right leg.

The setback came just weeks after her impressive run to the final at Queen's Club, where she fell in three sets to Croatia's Donna Vekic. Raducanu subsequently pulled out of the WTA 250 tournament in Nottingham the following week after her solid showing on the west London grass courts.

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Injury worries then escalated when she was spotted with strapping on her lower right leg during Wimbledon preparations, before cutting short a practice session. Concerns were partially eased when she told journalists at her pre-tournament press conference that she intended to compete.

However, news of her withdrawal emerged on the Sunday evening before Wimbledon got underway. Raducanu, who was seeded 30th, had been scheduled to open her campaign on the first Monday against Croatia's Antonia Ruzic on Court One.

McEnroe has now offered his thoughts on Raducanu and several other British players on his BBC Radio 5 Live show alongside Tim Henman and Marion Bartoli. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion was discussing Arthur Fery's remarkable journey to the semi-finals at SW19 as a qualifier.

He said: "Thank god for Arthur Fery in a way! Jack Draper, last year he came in as the fourth seed and I thought last year was the first year he could win a major. Been a total nightmare since.

"Emma's continuing to have these problems and can't stay healthy. We hope she gets healthy soon. Carlos [Alcaraz], most of all, I was depressed when I heard the news he was out of France and then Wimbledon. It's been horrible. We hope he comes back healthy and better than ever. Didn't he just turn 23? 22 or 23, either way."

[Emma Raducanu reacts]

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Emma Raducanu has endured a torrid time with injuries in recent years(Image: Getty)

When quizzed on whether a Fery Wimbledon triumph would eclipse Raducanu's remarkable 2021 US Open win as a qualifier, he responded: "Similar, they're pretty close." Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Henman was courtside in New York when Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez five years ago to become the first qualifier in Open Era history to claim a major title.

He said: "It's in the same league isn't it? Fery's had more professional tennis experience. Raducanu made fourth round of Wimbledon a couple months before but her coming from qualifying like that... There's a long way for Fery to go yet!"

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