Emma Raducanu locks horns with Coco Gauff in the second round on Wednesday (Picture: Getty)
Tennis legend John McEnroe feels Coco Gauff ‘should’ beat Emma Raducanu when the stars meet in their Australian Open second-round showdown.
Both players have been tipped to have a massive future in the sport and British No.1 Raducanu, 20, is eager to test herself against American Gauff with the pair set for their mouth-watering clash at 8am on Wednesday on the Rod Laver Arena.
Raducanu – ranked No.77 after struggles with form and injury last year – swept past German Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-2 in her opening match at Melbourne Park as she looks to upset the odds and land her second Grand Slam trophy following her fairy-tale triumph at the 2021 US Open, which she won as a qualifier.
Gauff, meanwhile, ranked world No.7, defeated Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in her first-round match and is looking to win the first major title of her career at the age of just 18 having finished as a French Open runner-up in 2022.
‘It will probably be the first time in a couple of years where Emma Raducanu won’t be feeling the type of pressure she’s been feeling since she won the US Open,’ McEnroe, who won seven major titles in men’s singles, told Eurosport.
‘So that’s probably a good thing to allow her to be more free and do her thing, because to me she’s the type of player, the type of person and the type of talent that we could use in the top 10.
‘It’s been hard to watch her difficulties. But she’s playing someone who’s gone at a slower pace and matured more gradually – Gauff is only 18 but has been on the tour for years.
‘It’s a great second-round match-up and I think it’s going to be the first time in a while where Emma can really let loose and play more free. It’s going to be interesting to see what happens there.
‘I think Coco is in the better position right now to make a deep run and I think it’s going to be soon that she’s going to win a major event in the next year or two at the most. To me, she goes in as a heavy favourite.
‘She seems to be playing better and better and serving more consistently than she has done. I would say that it’s a match she should win, but a match that could put Raducanu back on the map again, which would be good for her.’
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‘To me, she goes in as a heavy favourite…’
