Former world number one
Chris Evert has made some
interesting remarks about Britain’s
Emma Raducanu. The 22-year-old, who was
once regarded as the next big thing after winning the US Open at the age of 18,
is currently taking part in the Strasbourg Open where she booked her spot in
the second round after beating Australia’s Daria Kasatkina in straight sets
with a score of 6-1, 6-3.
It was Raducanu’s fifth win in seven matches on clay this
season, and she acknowledged after the match, while speaking to Sky Sports, that she has now built a relationship with the surface where she struggled previously.
Now, former world number one Evert has some words of praise for
the former world number 10. The 70-year-old, who is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of women's tennis in the singles category, recently spoke to English media outlet Daily Express, where she stated that she feels Raducanu now has her priorities right. Evert noted that by looking at the US Open 2021 winner, she feels that her ‘emotional’ and ‘mental’ parts are in order. Evert was
also of the opinion that Raducanu is seemingly playing ‘better’ under new coach
Mark Petchey.
“I think she's playing better with Mark Petchey,” she said. “I
think he's very knowledgeable, how can he not be? But I think I've seen some
good matches from Emma. I think she seems to have the mental part of the game
and the emotional part of the game. She seems to have that. She seems to be
more settled, and she seems to really know what her goals are and she seems to
know what she needs to work on and what her strengths and weaknesses are. She
has a very good awareness of her game, and she knows what to do. She’s a young lady that has been injured so many times. But
I think she's showing some good signs, showing some promise, and when I look at
it, when I watch her matches, you can see it in her eyes that she's 100 per
cent committed this time around. Her priorities are in the right place right
now. So she should just keep fighting and keep trying to improve
her game, adding a little bit more power, coming into the net, just working a
little bit harder, and I think she's going to even be a better player than she
is now.”