Murray’s Wimbledon profession OVER after Raducanu pulls out of doubles
- The British duo were set to face Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai in first round
- Murray will now bow out with his last game being defeat alongdie brother Jamie
- Doubt had now been cast over run of Raducanu in women’s singles competition
Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her ‘dream’ mixed doubles partnership with Andy Murray due to wrist soreness, meaning the two-time champion’s Wimbledon career is over.
The 21-year-old said in a statement: ‘Unfortunately I woke up with some stiffness in my right wrist this morning, so therefore I have decided to make the very tough decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles tonight. I’m disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care.’
Raducanu is due to play her fourth-round match against New Zealand’s Lulu Sun on Sunday, and at this stage there is no suggestion her wrist injury will rule her out of that match.
The 21-year-old thrashed No9 seed Maria Sakkari to move into the third round of the singles on Friday night and said of her doubles with Murray: ‘It’s just an amazing opportunity to be able to play with him. It’s something that I’m going to cherish.’
But Raducanu this afternoon decided to be cautious with a wrist on which she had surgery last year.
Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career is over after Emma Raducanu’s mixed doubles withdrawal
The British duo had been set to compete together but Raducanu (right) has pulled out due to wrist soreness
The withdrawl means Murray’s last game at SW19 was his men’s doubles defeat alongside brother Jamie earlier this week
She was asked after her second-round win whether she had any hesitation in agreeing to play mixed doubles with Murray. ‘For me it was a no-brainer,’ she replied. ‘In my team, they were asking me, “Emma, are you sure you want to play? Just in case you’re still in the tournament.” I was like “No-brainer”.’
So there was clearly some uncertainty in her team about the prospect of her playing three days in a row, and Raducanu herself said after the Sakkari win: ‘The scheduling of (the mixed) was not ideal.’ That was a reference to the fact they had been place fourth on No1 Court and were facing an extremely late night – far from ideal preparation for one of the bigger matches of her life.
That was widely seen as an attempt by the All England Club to make sure the match did not clash with England v Switzerland at Euro 2024. But actually Wimbledon had little choice in positioning the match late, because one of the British pair’s opponents, El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo, had his first-round men’s doubles rained off on Friday and had to finish it this morning, so the schedule had to allow him sufficient time to rest between his two matches.
It surely means Murray’s final match at Wimbledon was his straight sets first round defeat with his brother Jamie in the men’s doubles on Thursday night, after which he took a look back at his career on court with Sue Barker.
Murray had cut an emotional figure after his and Jamie’s straight sets defeat on Thursday
Centre Court paid tribute to the former World No 1 after the defeat by John Peers and Rinky Hijikata
