Emma Raducanu's 'radiant personality' praised by Nick Kyrgios amid social media pressure

Nick Kyrgios praised Emma Raducanu's 'radiant personality' while discussing the pressures of being a tennis player in the age of social media. The Australian mentioned a conversation he had with tennis legend John McEnroe, who remarked that he ‘would probably be in jail’ if social media had existed during his professional years.

The 29-year-old Australian shared his thoughts with BBC presenter Clare Balding on Raducanu’s performance at Wimbledon. The Brit surprised many by reaching the fourth round, which included her second career win over a top-10 player, Maria Sakkari, before being eliminated by surprise qualifier Lulu Sun.

 Balancing fame in the social media age

Kyrgios is at the All England Club, this time in a new role as a television pundit, partnering with McEnroe to commentate on some of the main matches each day. He has also been giving interviews and chatting with players from his new commentator position.

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The 2022 Wimbledon runner-up discussed the influence of social media on players and the pressure it creates for athletes like himself and Raducanu. He recalled a conversation with McEnroe to illustrate the point:

"I mean I had this conversation with John McEnroe," Kyrgios told BBC presenter Clare Balding. "I said: 'Johnny Mac, how would you have gone in this day and age with social media always following you off the court?' And he said he’d probably be in jail. So that kind of explains what we deal with and we have to be ambassadors and good role models. It’s taken me a long time to understand that," Kyrgios added.

Emma Raducanu at 2024 Wimbledon.

"We didn’t really sign up for it but there are a lot of people around the world looking up to myself and Emma Raducanu. She's always on court smiling and she does have that radiant personality,” the former world No. 13 said. "I think winning a Grand Slam so early on in her career has just accelerated everything else so I think she’ll be fine moving forward," Kyrgios added on Raducanu.

"It can be [draining]. I know when I go out on court it’s not always about my tennis, people just want to remember something and go home with something that’s insanely rare to see, whether it’s good or bad. And I think that’s pretty cool in a way but she’s obviously found that balance a little bit quicker than I have."

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