Emma Raducanu said she ‘stands by’ her decision to pull out of her mixed doubles pairing with Andy Murray at his last Wimbledon, calling it a “no-brainer” as she looked to prioritise her run in the women’s singles.
Raducanu withdrew from their scheduled first-round encounter on Saturday citing a sore wrist, not wishing to take any risks before her fourth-round singles match against qualifier Lulu Sun on Sunday, which she lost 6-2 5-7 6-2.
The former US Open champion received some criticism for the move, with Andy’s mum Judy Murray labelling the decision as ‘astonishing’ in a post on X, before clarifying in a further statement that she was being sarcastic and going on to blame the tournament scheduling.
Asked about Judy Murray’s comments after her singles exit, Raducanu said: “I haven’t seen her reaction, so I don’t know. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
She added that she was at peace with the decision she made: “I don’t think it was a mistake because I was feeling fine, then yesterday morning just woke up with stiffness. I have to prioritise myself, my singles and my body.
“I stand by the decision. Obviously it was a tough decision, because it’s something that I’ve always wanted to do.
“Of course I didn’t want to take his last match away from him, but at the end of the day I think a lot of the players in a similar situation would have done the same thing.
“I think in this sport especially, as an individual, you have to make your own calls and prioritise yourself. Especially with my history, I just had to put myself first.
“Given how I woke up yesterday morning, it was for me a no-brainer.”
Raducanu, eyeing a first Wimbledon quarter-final, was a firm favourite going into her fourth-round match against qualifier Lulu Sun, who hadn’t won a main-draw match at a Grand Slam until this tournament.
But the 23-year-old took the match to the home favourite right from the off on Centre Court, the left-hander from New Zealand racking up a massive 52 winners behind a vicious forehand compared to just 19 from Raducanu in a hugely impressive performance.
It was one that didn’t take Raducanu by surprise. “Honestly, I went into this expecting a tougher match. Level-wise, I think she’s playing better than all my previous opponents,” she said of Sun.
“She lived up to that. She was swinging, she was playing aggressive. Credit to her for doing that.”
Reflecting on her week, Raducanu was willing to see the positives. “I beat two top-10 players within two weeks [Jessica Pegula in Eastbourne and Maria Sakkari in Wimbledon third round], which is a pretty big deal for me, seeing as the whole US Open even I didn’t play one top-10 player,” she said.
“I think I have to take confidence from that. Six months ago when I was starting out after surgery, I would have signed for fourth round at Wimbledon.
“Of course I’m disappointed. Of course I want more. I think everything does happen for a reason. It just fuels the fire and makes me more hungry.”
The 21-year-old added: “You don’t want things to happen too easily and too quickly. I had that before [with US Open success]. I don’t necessarily want just a massive spike.
“I think I’m working there, tracking in the right direction. That desire and fire is back. I just want to keep building on that.”
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