"I feel you" - Eugenie Bouchard expresses support for Emma Raducanu after Brit hits out at critics questioning her commitment to tennis
Former top-10 player Eugenie Bouchard came forward in support of Emma Raducanu after the Brit hit out at critics for "unfairly" questioning her and her commitment to tennis.
Bouchard herself shot to fame after reaching the finals of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships as a 21-year-old. In a post on Twitter, the Canadian said she knew exactly what it felt like to be in Raducanu's shoes.
Bouchard attached a screenshot of a news story with Raducanu's comments, in which the Brit highlighted how despite spending as much as 12 hours a day training, people were still questioning her commitment to the sport.
I feel you, Emma 😅 https://t.co/2x1wbqcbkX
"I feel you Emma" - Eugenie Bouchard wrote in her Twitter post.
In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Raducanu said all it took was for her to post a photograph away from the tennis court to prompt people to question her focus.
"If you just see – like on the news or on social media – me signing this deal or that deal, I feel like it's quite misleading. Because I'm doing five or six hours a day [of training], 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 – you know – I don't focus on tennis or whatever," said Raducanu.
The Brit has raked in multiple lucrative deals ever since first lifting her first Grand Slam title at the US Open last year. Most recently, the youngster was unveiled as a celebrity endorser by Prosche and appeared in a few promotional photographs for the German luxury automobile company.
Former players and tennis observers, including the likes of Kim Clijsters, have taken the occasional swipe at Raducanu for being "distracted" from her primary goal of performing well on the tennis court.
Emma Raducanu to start her clay season in Stuttgart
Emma Raducanu will begin her clay season at the 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, a WTA 500 event scheduled to be played in Stuttgart from April 18-24.
Likely to be unseeded, Raducanu will have to find some of her best tennis to make an impact at the star-studded event. Leading the field at this year's tournament will be the newly crowned World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Former champions Angelique Kerber, Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova, as well as the world's top 8 players, are expected to feature in the tournament.