England coach Eddie Jones has received widespread criticism for his recent comments about US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
The 18-year-old has shot to fame on and off the court since her Grand Slam triumph and has won two of her four matches at the Indian Wells Masters and Transylvania Open since.
However, Jones recently warned England protege Marcus Smith not to follow in Raducanu's footsteps, claiming that the teenager "hasn't done so well" following her US Open win.
"There's a reason why the girl who won the US Open [Raducanu] hasn't done so well afterwards. What have you seen her on? The front page of Vogue, the front page of Harper's Bazaar, whatever it is, wearing Christian Dior clothes," Jones told reporters.
"He is grounded, but they all start off grounded. No-one starts with their feet off the ground or they don't get in the team, or they don't win a US Open. But there's this flood of distractions that comes in that makes you ungrounded."
Jones's comments immediately received backlash from tennis commentator David Law, who hit out at the England coach's "sexist nonsense" towards the Grand Slam winner.
The comments by Eddie Jones about Emma Raducanu are uninformed, irresponsible, sexist nonsense.
— David Law (@DavidLawTennis) November 8, 2021
Young woman who has barely played professional tennis wins US Open, and he cites her commercial appearances as evidence for her 'not doing so well' (won 2, lost 2) since.
Raducanu bowed out of the Transylvania Open to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in the quarter-finals and is now preparing for the Upper Austria Ladies Linz, having received a bye into the second round.
Ben Knapton
