Emma Raducanu said her decision to withdraw from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray remained unchanged despite the controversy casting a “dark shadow” over Wimbledon weekend.
Raducanu had initially expressed great enthusiasm about collaborating with Murray after he invited him to perform together in a text message late on a Tuesday night.
But on Saturday afternoon, Raducanu’s management team announced he would withdraw from the mixed doubles draw, citing stiffness in his right wrist, and he seemed concerned about the inconvenience of having the doubles match scheduled at the end of a long schedule on Court No. 1 that might have kept him at the All England Club past 10 p.m.
Raducanu ended up losing to world No. 123 Lulu Sun in the fourth round on Sunday, but that didn’t change her mind later.
“I still believe I made the right decision,” Raducanu told reporters after the defeat. “It was a very difficult decision. Of course, I [Murray’s] “I split with him in the last game, but at the end of the day, I think a lot of guys in a similar situation would have done the same thing.”
Asked about Murray’s reaction, Raducanu said: “[He was] “Obviously I’m disappointed because it’s my last match, but I’m a really great champion and hopefully I can go to the Olympics and have another farewell there.”
“There was some doubt about the decision,” she admitted. [to pull out of the mixed doubles]But then she added, “I don’t think I would have had it any other way. I think especially in this sport, as an individual, you have to make your own decisions and put yourself first. Especially with my history, I had to put myself first.”
“Going into the tournament, I didn’t think I’d make it to the fourth round, so for me, it was a no-brainer. [to accept the mixed-doubles invitation]I wanted to play. He didn’t ask me, ‘If you’re still in singles, are you going to play?’ That was never a question that could be answered.”
Regarding the controversial ruling, in which Judy Murray posted on social media that the ruling was “astonishing,” Raducanu said he was unaware of the post. When briefed, Raducanu said: “I certainly didn’t mean it.”
When asked to elaborate on his reasons for withdrawing, Raducanu explained: “I woke up yesterday and my wrist was a bit stiff. The ball was quite heavy on the grass so I had to do something about it. I’ve been playing on grass for the last few weeks. I guess singles had to take priority.”
Earlier on Sunday, Judy Murray said the post was not meant to be taken seriously. She locked X’s access to her posts shortly after the remarks, which appeared as a reply at the bottom of tennis newscaster Marcus Backlund’s post, were met with a less than warm response to her message.
But on Sunday morning she reactivated her profile, tweeting: “I don’t think anyone understands sarcasm these days. I’m sure the schedule (fourth singles match on Court 1 the next day) played a big role in any decision.”
This time, I turned off replies to avoid any further backlash.
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