Judy Murray has clarified her perceived criticism of Emma Raducanu for pulling out of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon.
Raducanu had been due to play with Andy Murray on Saturday evening but withdrew a few hours before, citing soreness in her right wrist, thus bringing the Scot’s Wimbledon career to a premature and unfortunate end.
Murray was understood to be devastated by the situation, and his mother Judy gave a quick reaction on the social media site X, replying to a message branding the decision ‘astonishing’ with a two-word reply: “Yes, astonishing.”
That was taken as criticism of 21-year-old Raducanu, who is due to play her fourth-round singles match on Sunday afternoon on Centre Court.
But on Sunday morning Murray put out another message, instead pointing the finger at the scheduling, saying: “Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days. Pretty sure the scheduling (4th match court 1 with a singles following day) will have played a major part in any decision making.”
Former British No 1 Greg Rusedski, meanwhile, immediately backed Raducanu’s decision, writing on X: “More than understandable @EmmaRaducanu has pulled out of the mixed doubles. No need to take a risk with the wrist.”
Murray and Raducanu would not have begun their match against Zhang Shuai and Marcelo Arevalo until around 8pm, which could have meant not finishing their media obligations and other post-match duties until after midnight.
Wimbledon had little choice, though, with Arevalo needing to finish off a men’s doubles match earlier in the day and with the bad weather having delayed the singles competitions, which take priority over doubles in the scheduling.
The situation is hugely unfortunate given the momentum Raducanu, who finally appears to have settled into life on tour, has built up on court over the last few weeks.
Her main priority will be ensuring her wrist, which she had surgery on last year, does not become a major problem again and that this saga does not derail her singles run. She practised as scheduled on Saturday but with tape around the joint.
In hindsight, she will probably reflect that she should have turned down Murray’s invitation, however much she wanted to accept it, to avoid this possible outcome.
Raducanu will record her best Wimbledon result if she wins her fourth-round match on Sunday.
Comparisons have been made to her run to the US Open title in 2021 after she beat ninth seed Maria Sakkari on Friday.
But this time she will be the one coming up against a qualifier as she takes on New Zealand’s world No 123 Lulu Sun, who won three matches at Roehampton to make 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 about her decision to withdraw from the mixed doubles.
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