Andy Murray has slammed Piers Morgan on Twitter following his criticism about tennis star Emma Raducanu.
The pair came to blows on social media over John McEnroe’s comments, after the 18-year-old retired mid-match at Wimbledon this week.
Emma struggled to breathe during the Court One clash, forcing her to abandon the match altogether.
Following the match, McEnroe said on the BBC: “I feel bad for Emma. It appears that it got a little bit too much, as is understandable, particularly what we’ve been talking about these last six weeks with Naomi Osaka not even here.
“How much can players handle? Hopefully she’ll learn from this experience.”
But while some critics hit out at McEnroe’s statement, Piers seemingly agreed with the star.
What happened between Piers Morgan and Andy Murray?
Taking to Twitter, Piers said: “McEnroe told the truth. Ms Raducuna’s a talented player but couldn’t handle the pressure & quit when she was losing badly.
“Not ‘brave’, just a shame. If I were her, I’d tell my fans to stop abusing McEnroe, & seek his advice on how to toughen up & become a champion like he was.”
Meanwhile, Andy didn’t hold back in his response to Piers.
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The Scottish star told Piers he was being too “harsh”.
Andy responded: “Think this is a very harsh take on the situation Piers.
“I think some of what he said was fair yes.. however the timing of it was a bit off considering nobody had any clue what her issue was injury/illness/breathings issues etc at the time of his comments.”
Think this is a very harsh take on the situation Piers
Piers then replied: “Well, I just felt the reaction to what McEnroe said was absurdly OTT. Didn’t you?”
And the spat didn’t end there.
Andy later added: “I think some of what he said was fair yes… however the timing of it was a bit off considering nobody had any clue what her issue was injury/illness/breathings issues etc at the time of his comments.”
Think this is a very harsh take on the situation Piers https://t.co/rGuWC5ScDT
— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) July 6, 2021
How did followers react?
Following the disagreement, fans rushed to defend Andy.
Commenting on Piers, one said: “His point is he likes to pick on weak people.”
A second added: “Only experience Piers has with being under pressure is from outside the studio after he’s walked out because he can’t deal with it. He’s just speaking from experience here.”
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Another commented: “He’s lecturing Britain’s greatest athlete about pressure in sport, I’d say he doesn’t deserve the replies from you Andy.”
A fourth shared: “She’s only 18 Piers. She had trouble breathing. What was you expecting her to do. Keep playing and collapse on the court?”
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