Judy Murray has resorted to drastic measures after calling Emma Raducanu out on social media. The 21-year-old was set to team up with Andy Murray in mixed doubles at Wimbledon for his SW19 farewell.
But she pulled out on Saturday, hours before they were due to take to Court 1, after waking up with a stiff wrist. Raducanu, who had surgeries on both of her wrists last year, wanted to be careful ahead of her singles match on Sunday.
And Andy’s mum clearly wasn’t happy, sharing her thoughts on X (formerly known as Twitter) before U-turning when fans caught on.
The tennis coach put her account on private after one of her tweets started circulating. Judy replied to sports presenter Marcus Buckland earlier in the day as he shared his shock at the news of Raducanu’s withdrawal.
Astonishing news that Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray. She’s citing soreness in her right wrist. It means Murray has played his last match at Wimbledon. Oh dear!” Buckland tweeted.
And Judy gave a telling response as she wrote: “Yes, astonishing.” She made another dig at Raducanu later on Instagram with a timely repost to her story.
The mother of Andy and Jamie shared a quote from Serena Williams reflecting on her own mixed doubles outing with Andy Murray in 2019. It read: “Playing mixed doubles by your side was one of the highlights of my life. I’m so grateful I had that experience.”
Judy’s fans and followers speculated whether she was sending a message to Raducanu, who gave up the opportunity to join forces with British tennis icon Murray for what would have been his last hurrah at the All England Club. And she reacted by going private on X, meaning only her followers can see her tweets. Her Instagram account remains public.
Although his mum wasn’t pleased with the 21-year-old’s late call, it was confirmed that Andy knew about her decision to pull out as a precaution. A statement from Raducanu’s 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 2021 US Open champion will face Lulu Sun in the fourth round of the ladies singles event at Wimbledon on Sunday and is hoping to recover in time.
Her mixed doubles withdrawal means that Andy has already played his final Wimbledon match, losing in the men’s doubles draw with his brother Jamie on Thursday. He was honoured with tributes in an on-court ceremony with tennis champions and British stars past and present coming out, including Novak Djokovic, Jack Draper and Lleyton Hewitt.