Judy Murray has clarified her perceived criticism of Emma Raducanu for withdrawing from the mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
Raducanu was due to play Andy Murray on Saturday night but withdrew hours earlier citing a sore right wrist, bringing the Scot’s Wimbledon career to a premature and unfortunate end.
Murray was devastated by the situation and his mother Judy reacted quickly on social media site X, responding to a post calling the decision “astonishing” with a two-word response: “Yes, amazing.”
It was interpreted as criticism of Raducanu, 21, who is due to play her fourth-round singles match on Centre Court on Sunday afternoon.
But on Sunday morning, Murray posted another message, pointing the finger at the schedule instead, saying: “Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days. Pretty sure the schedule (4th match on Court 1 with singles the next day) will have played a major part in any decision.”
Former British number one Greg Rusedski immediately backed Raducanu’s decision, writing on X: “It’s more than understandable that @EmmaRaducanu has pulled out of mixed doubles. No need to take any risks with the wrist.”
Murray and Raducanu would not have started their match against Zhang Shuai and Marcelo Arevalo until around 8pm, which could have meant they would not have completed their media obligations and other post-match duties until midnight.
Wimbledon had little choice, however, with Arevalo having to finish a men’s doubles match earlier in the day and bad weather delaying the singles competitions, which take priority over doubles in the schedule.
The situation is extremely unfortunate given the momentum that Raducanu, who finally appears to have settled into life on tour, has built up on court in recent weeks.
Her priority will be to ensure her wrist, operated on last year, does not become a major problem again and that this saga does not derail her singles run. She trained as planned on Saturday, albeit with tape around the joint.
In hindsight, she’ll probably think she should have declined Murray’s invitation, even if she really wanted to accept it, to avoid this rather predictable outcome.
The Last Briton Standing
Lulu Sun won three matches at Roehampton to reach the main draw before upsetting eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the first round.
Raducanu will achieve her best result at Wimbledon if she wins her fourth-round match on Sunday.
Comparisons have been made to her run to the 2021 US Open title after beating ninth seed Maria Sakkari on Friday.
But this time she will face a qualifier, New Zealand’s world number 123 Lulu Sun, who won three matches in Roehampton to qualify for the main draw before stunning eighth seed Zheng Qinwen in the first round.
Raducanu will start as favourite but her wrist could be a concern, while she can expect to face questions over her decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles.
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