Nike at fault with Raducanu advert

■ THE obstacles being placed in the path of Emma Raducanu were made even more evident when Nike chose to pile the pressure on her by releasing an advert ahead of the Australian Open, which showed her ‘hitting back at her critics’. After her astonishing victory at the US Open last year, I wasn’t particularly aware that she had any critics. British journalists voted her SJA Sportswoman of the Year and she is the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. She is one of the most exciting British sporting talents in decades and the way she demolished Sloane Stephens in the first set of their first round match in Melbourne was more evidence of that. So it is a shame Nike tried, once again, to leverage a brand with a negative message and did not do Raducanu (left) any favours in the process. If you’re going to release an advert mocking criticism, you better hope your player doesn’t lose in the second round of the event.