Andy Murray’s mum Judy claimed that it was “astonishing” for Emma Raducanu to pull out of Wimbledon mixed doubles with her son, just hours before what could have been the two-time SW19 champion’s final match ever at the tournament.
Raducanu, who reached the fourth round of singles on Friday, cited soreness in her wrist in a statement the following day as Murray’s final appearance was cancelled.
A statement from the Raducanu camp said: “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.
The news quickly spread and sports presenter Marcus Buckland reacted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by highlighting that Murray would not get another chance to compete at Wimbledon in the mixed doubles.
“Astonishing news that Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray,” Buckland wrote. “She’s citing soreness in her right wrist. It means Murray has played his last match at Wimbledon. Oh dear!”
In response to Buckland, Murray’s mother Judy replied with: “Yes, astonishing.
Murray and Raducanu were scheduled to close action on Court 1, after the 37-year-old already had an emotional farewell on Centre Court with his brother after losing in the men’s doubles competition, with the likes of Sue Barker and Novak Djokovic on court to say goodbye to British tennis royalty.
Raducanu and Murray confirmed that they would be playing together at SW19 after injury forced Murray to pull out of the singles event.
But after the 2021 US Open champion defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets on Centre Court, Raducanu said that she woke up the next day with soreness in her wrist and opted against playing in mixed doubles. Under Championship rules, Murray is not allowed to seek a replacement partner at hours’ notice.
The scheduling of that was not ideal,” Raducanu said in her Friday post-match press conference when told that her mixed doubles match with Murray would clash with England’s Euro 2024 quarter-final with Switzerland. “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 asked if she had any say in when the match was scheduled to be played, she replied: “No. I just came off court and found out myself.”
