John McEnroe stood by his decision to question Emma Raducanu’s mental strength at Wimbledon, as he hailed her subsequent US Open triumph as “insane”.
The outspoken American had prompted criticism after saying live on BBC immediately after she was forced to pull out of the All England Club competition that “it appears that it just got a little bit too much”.
However, speaking for the first time after her extraordinary flawless triumph in New York, he dismissed those comments as “vanilla”. “I meant exactly what I said,’ he told CNN on Tuesday. “I tried to relate it in a small way to my experience when I first went to Wimbledon also at 18… she did better than I did.”
McEnroe said he had felt “overwhelmed” by his debut, as “there’s also pressure you put on yourself and expectations that others put on you”. However, he said his comments about Raducanu paled with other comments he had said in the past. “I mean that was to me as vanilla as it comes….I was very supportive of her, I thought, at the time,” he added.
Having become the youngest Briton to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since 1959, the 18-year-old was forced to retire from her match against Alja Tomljanovic with breathing difficulties while trailing 6-4, 3-0.
“It appears that it just got a little bit too much, as is understandable, particularly [with] what we’ve been talking about this last six weeks with Naomi Osaka not even here,” McEnroe had said during BBC coverage afterwards, prompting a fierce row which involved Piers Morgan supporting the comments, but Andy Murray later leaping to her defence.
McEnroe dismissed the furore on Tuesday, adding that there was a lot of concern in British tennis “along with people in her family and, and the people that work with her” at “how is she going to be able to handle this sort of newfound fame”.
“I don’t think you could possibly do it any better than she did it when the US Open,” he added. “Are you kidding me? That’s insane, and that she’s been able to do this now there’s going to be obviously a lot more focus on it. It’s incredible.
“If Billie Jean King says pressure is a privilege I believe her. She’s done more for women’s sports and maybe sports in general than anyone in the last 100 years.”
Of Raducanu’s Wimbledon experience, McEnroe had added that she is “not the first person to deal with pressure in sport”. “I don’t know how she is turning it around over the last couple of months but I’m sure a lot of people would like to find out,” he added. “I meant exactly what I said…For me, that was about as vanilla as they come.”
Murray and Marcus Rashford had expressed support for Emma Raducanu as the teenager’s mental strength was first scrutinised. Rashford said the same breathless problem had “happened to me playing for the national team in U16s against Wales”.
However, Morgan, the former breakfast TV host who has repeatedly spoken against perceived “woke” issues, had been first to wade in. He said McEnroe, the three-time men’s champion, was right to say on BBC coverage that “it just got a little bit too much” for Raducanu.
“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,” he tweeted.
In response, Murray wrote: “Think this is a very harsh take on the situation, Piers.”