John McEnroe absorbs heavy criticism for comments on Raducanu retirement

Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her match against Ajla Tomljanovic at Wimbledon and comments made by McEnroe on that came under heavy criticism.

It was the final 4th round match at Wimbledon on Monday evening when Emma Raducanu was forced to retire from her match against Tomljanovic. The Brit whose rise at Wimbledon has been a fascinating story trailed 4-6 0-3 at that time. She was experiencing some difficulties which were later identified as 'difficulty breathing'.

The Brit took an MTO which was on-court initially but quickly became an off-court one. The Brit was seen hyperventilating with a doctor trying to calm her down. She never returned to the court and no statement was released as of now. Immediately after the match, McEnroe said on BBC:

"I feel bad for Emma. It appears it got a bit too much which is understandable, particularly what we’ve been talking about this last six weeks with [Naomi] Osaka. How much can players handle? It makes you look at the guys who have been around, and the girls, how well they can handle it."

The comments were widely criticized by everyone in the tennis community including Tomljanovic who called them harsh. Asked about it at the press conference she said:

"I can’t imagine being in her shoes at 18 playing the fourth round in your home country. It’s something I can’t even imagine."

So far no follow up has been given by either Raducanu or Wimbledon on the matter.