"You can see it in her eyes": Former world number one praises '100 per cent committed' Emma Raducanu

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.”