"I think Emma Raducanu is handling everything beautifully, she has tennis as her No. 1 priority and she's working hard"

Tennis legend Chris Evert has defended Emma Raducanu after the teenager was recently criticized over her commitment to the sport. The 18-time Grand Slam champion believes the Brit is "handling everything beautifully" and feels that being a tennis star in England is "brutal" due to the media scrutiny.

Raducanu shocked the sporting world in September by winning the 2021 US Open without dropping a set when ranked 150th in the world. The then-18-year-old became the first qualifier to win a Major singles title.

The World No. 12 has since found adjusting to the WTA tour difficult, winning just four of her 12 matches following the US Open. Critics have claimed that Raducanu is more focused on signing sponsorship deals than playing tennis.

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The Brit has, however, hit back at such suggestions in a recent interview with The Telegraph.

"Maybe you just see on the news or on social media me signing this or that deal, and I feel like it’s quite misleading because I’m doing five, six hours [of training] a day," said the 19-year-old. "I’m at the club for 12 hours a day. But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden it’s ‘I don’t focus on tennis’. I think that it is unfair but it’s something I have learned to deal with and become a bit more insensitive to the outside noise."

Speaking to Eurosport, Evert argued that the teenage star is doing a great job of managing the pressure that comes with being a leading British player.

"To be a superstar in England is like the toughest thing ever for a player," Evert said. "Even tougher than being a superstar in America where there are so many more athletes in other sports, or being a superstar in other countries. I just think with the tabloids in England - it's brutal. I mean basically, they camp out at your doorstep if you're a superstar and that's not good.

"I think Emma is handling everything beautifully," she added. "I think Emma has tennis as her number one priority and she's working hard. It's hard when these financial opportunities come along and they're just offered to her to turn them down, and I think that's fine as long as her number one priority is still to improve her game."

"It's hard when you win a Grand Slam and you're out of the top 100, that's a tough act to follow" - Chris Evert on Emma Raducanu

Chris Evert also discussed the challenge for Emma Raducanu to back up her stunning 2021 US Open triumph.

"It's hard when you win a Grand Slam and you're out of the top 100," Evert said. "That's a tough, tough, tough act to follow and she's feeling it, but she's just got to put her nose to the grindstone and deal with it and work her way up, and I think she is doing that. She has got a great game, and she has got a great attitude."

The former World No. 1 then reiterated the unique nature of the British tabloid media, while asserting that she feels Raducanu is capable of handling it.

"But it is tough being a superstar in England, and I saw that in the last 50 years I've seen that with English players," the American said. "The press are just different in England, they are relentless, they build you up and then if you don't live up to the expectations, they are just not as supportive. It's not all the press there, but the tabloids, you just have to be thick-skinned. She has got to be thick-skinned. But I think she is."

The World No. 12 is set to make her debut at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which will be played from 18-24 April.