Tennis fans have been quick to shut down former world number eight John Isner after his comments regarding Emma Raducanu and Monegasque ace Valentin Vacherot following the latter’s triumph at the Shanghai Masters.
Vacherot, who was ranked 204 in the world prior to winning the tournament, enjoyed his own fairytale run to the final, beating Novak Djokovic in style in the semis and seeing off his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to lift the trophy. The surprise champion made some reminisce about British talent Raducanu’s heroics at the US Open back in 2021, when she stunned the tennis world to become a major winner at just 18.
Speaking on the Nothing Major podcast, which he co-hosts with fellow ex-pros Jack Sock, Sam Querrey, and Steve Johnson, former world No 8 Isner reflected on the achievement of Vacherot and how it compared to Raducanu’s four years prior. He claimed: “I think it is more impressive [what Vacherot did], yes.
“But Raducanu, it’s a bigger story because it’s the US Open. I think this is more improbable than what she did.
“But obviously, it being the US Open makes it a bigger story, even though this story is really big in the tennis world. But yeah, I’m giving it to Vacherot there because it’s unheard of.”
Fans have now hit back at those comments on social media, with one user responding: “I think there is serious recency bias involved here. A qualifier winning a masters is not unheard of. A qualifier wining a slam is. Emma was 18 playing only her second grand slam event and hadn’t even won a match on the WTA tour. She won 10 matches and Vacherot 9.”
One X user also posted: “Emma was 18 and had just finished school. She was a rookie and a qualifier who won without losing a set. A Slam. Bigger than a 28 year old qualifier winning a Masters irrespective of who they faced . You can only play who is in front of you.”
Another added: “What? Nothing compares to Raducanu’s run. She was quite literally a qualifier and won a slam. Unheard of.”
One tennis fan offered the blunt response of: “What a horrible take.”
“Firstly, I am not interested in what John Isner thinks about anything,” another shared. “Secondly, what Raducanu and Vacherot separately achieved are both amazing. Massive congrats to both of them.”
Raducanu is yet to claim another major in her career, due to a host of reasons from form to injuries. However, it has only proven further exactly how incredible her achievement was.