ANDY MURRAY has backed Emma Raducanu to bounce back from her ‘little bump’ at Indian Wells.
And the Scot, 34, believes that she is well equipped to deal with the ‘pressures of the tour’ better than he did at 18.
Raducanu, 18, fell 6-2 6-4 to world No100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round at Indian Wells, her first match since winning the US Open after receiving a bye.
The teen was philosophical after her defeat, before publicly appealing for any experienced coaches to contact her.
Three-time major winner Murray has thrown his support behind the young star.
Following his epic 5-7 6-3 6-2 comeback win over Carlos Alcaraz, he said: “What happened there was obviously incredible but in tennis and other sports it doesn’t just go in an upwards direction all the time.
“There are always little bumps and stuff along the way. It’s just a little bump, but I think pretty much everyone was sort of expecting that as well.
“I don’t think it’s anything unexpected, to be honest.
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“I don’t know her unbelievably well. I just know from the people who have worked with her and been around her, they all say the same things.
“She’s obviously unbelievably bright, well-educated, so you would imagine she would certainly be a lot better equipped to deal with everything that’s going on than most, and deal with it in a more mature way than I would have done when I was 18. She’s handled herself perfectly.
“I’m sure as she moves along she will learn how to go about everything, how to balance the whole tennis life, commercial life and the stuff that goes on away from the court better all the time.”
British men’s No1 Dan Evans has also backed Raducanu, insisting that she will benefit from a return to ‘normality’ following a whirlwind few weeks that saw her win the US Open before attending the Met Gala and James Bond premiere.
Raducanu worked with former British No1 Jeremy Bates in the California Desert, after splitting with Andrew Richardson following her Flushing Meadows triumph.
Raducanu is scheduled to play Kremlin Cup in Moscow next week, before heading to Romania to play the Transylvania Open.
She is then entered to play Linz, provided she doesn’t reach the WTA Finals in Guadalajara.
Murray, meanwhile, will face Alexander Zverev in round three of Indian Wells tomorrow, following his impressive victories over Adrian Mannarino and Alcaraz.
Evans reached round two courtesy of a battling 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 over former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori.
