Judy Murray, mum of tennis ace Andy, has branded it “astonishing” that Emma Raducanu pulled out of a mixed doubles match with her son at Wimbledon.
Raducanu, 21, who had a smashing run to the fourth round in singles, blamed a niggly wrist for her decision, just hours before what might have been the Scot’s last ever appearance at the iconic tennis tournament – leading to the cancellation of Andy Murray’s potential swansong at the Championships.
The Raducanu team released a statement explaining: “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.”
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The bombshell news sent shockwaves across the sports world, with sports presenter Marcus Buckland chiming in on X (formerly known as Twitter), lamenting that 37-year-old Andy Murray’s Wimbledon journey in the mixed doubles had come to an abrupt end.
“Astonishing news that Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray,” Buckland tweeted. “She’s citing soreness in her right wrist. It means Murray has played his last match at Wimbledon. Oh dear!” reports the Express. To which Judy Murray responded with a succinct and telling: “Yes, astonishing.”
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Andy Murray and Raducanu were all set to dazzle the crowds on Court 1, following an emotional Centre Court send-off with his brother Jamie Murray, with tennis legends like Sue Barker and Novak Djokovic paying their respects to the British tennis ace. The dynamic duo of Raducanu and Andy Murray had fans buzzing with excitement as they announced they’d team up at SW19, especially after the Scot had to bow out from the singles competition due to injury.
However, the plot took a twist when Raducanu, fresh from her straight-sets triumph over Maria Sakkari on Centre Court, revealed she felt wrist soreness the next morning and decided to skip the mixed doubles event. This left Andy Murray without the option to find a last-minute replacement partner, as per Championship rules.
Raducanu expressed her frustration about the timing in her Friday presser, saying: “The scheduling of that was not ideal,” especially since it clashed with England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Switzerland. She added, “I mean, it’s just an amazing opportunity to be able to play with him. It’s something that I’m going to cherish.”
When probed if she had any influence over the match schedule, Raducanu responded: “No. I just came off court and found out myself.”