Emma Raducanu has banked her first Australian Open victory after beating USA's Sloane Stephens in the opening round.The British number one has bounced back to good form after enduring a disappointing few months on the court. Since her return from the US Open, Raducanu has failed to make it past the quarter-finals in any tennis event she's participated in.The Australian Open clash was quite a spectacle to behold. Stephens was left stunned after Raducanu dominated the first set 6-0, but the American fought back in the second, putting her opponent to the sword as they battled it out in the Margaret Court Arena. But the young Brit produced enough to counter Stephens' attack and bag the win, seeing her into the second round of the tournament after a 6-0, 2-6, 6-1 victory.While UK fans of Raducanu were able to watch the match live on Eurosport, it was difficult to tune in over in Australia.
The host country's prime coverage channels were both showing the men's singles match between Sweden's Mikael Ymer and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece on the main court.A number of tennis followers commented on this on Twitter, with even Andy Murray calling out the decision not to showcase the match between Raducanu and Stephens. "Come on Channel 9 let’s get Raducanu Stephens on one of the channels instead of 2x Rod Laver!" the three-time Grand Slam winner wrote.
Murray's tweet picked up more than 4,000 likes and brought in a flock of comments praising him for once again channelling women's sport.
The former world number one has often led the line when it comes to promoting women in tennis. His iconic interview response from 2017 still often resurfaces and does the rounds on social media.
When talking about his defeat to Sam Querrey in the Wimbledon quarter-final, the interviewer lauded Murray's opponent as the "first US player to reach a major semi-final since 2009".
Murray immediately interjected by clarifying Querrey was the first male player to achieve this feat, not the first player in general. Venus and Serena Williams had both reached a semi-final, with the latter actually winning 12 Grand Slams in that period.
Murray is a vocal supporter of Raducanu and backed her the whole way through her historic US Open triumph.
The teen became the first ever qualifier to win a Grand Slam title and will be looking to build on that success this month in Australia.
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