"She’s got a shot at it": John McEnroe highlights reason behind backing Emma Raducanu against Iga Swiatek in third round clash at Australian Open

Former world number one John McEnroe has highlighted reasons behind backing Britain’s Emma Raducanu to cause an upset when she will face world number two Poland’s Iga Swiatek. The 22-year-old was once regarded as the next big thing after winning the US Open at the age of just 18.

Raducanu is currently taking part in the Australian Open, where she booked her spot in the third round after beating Amanda Anisimova of America in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-5. With that win, she is now set to face off the former world number one Swiatek, who cemented her spot in the round of 32 after beating Rebecca Sramkova in straight sets with a score of 6-0, 6-2.

It will be the fourth meeting between the two players. In the previous three outings, Swiatek came out on top. Despite that, the former world number one McEnroe has backed Raducanu to cause an upset in the upcoming contest. He was recently quoted in a Eurosport report, where he highlighted why she is backing the former world number 10 to beat Swiatek.

"She called the trainer on the court a couple of times during the second set, so it looked a bit iffy, what was going to happen," McEnroe told Eurosport about Raducanu’s medical timeouts during her win over Anisimova. I don’t know if it threw Anisimova off, but it worked. She looked like she was moving better. Obviously, that would be an issue against Iga. When you play a top player like Iga who’s not as comfortable on hard courts as she is on clay, it’s a good time to play her when she’s not quite sure of herself. She’s not quite sure where her game’s at. Raducanu is making progress, and it may be a tall order, but if she is feeling right, she’s got a shot at it. It’s good to see her back in the mix."