Andy Murray has been left disappointed after his Wimbledon career was effectively ended by Emma Raducanu pulling out of their mixed doubles match with stiffness in her wrist.
The Raducanu news came approximately four hours before their match was due to begin, with Murray’s camp emphasising that he was ready to play and there was no issue with his back.
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“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,” Raducanu said via the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
“I’m disappointed as I was really looking forward to playing with Andy but got to take care.”
Murray, who was at home when he heard the news, is understood to be very disappointed at his Wimbledon career ending this way. His mother, Judy Murray, called the development that Raducanu had withdrawn “astonishing” in a post on X.
She later locked her X account, before issuing a second comment the following morning, saying “not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days.”
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.— judy murray (@JudyMurray) July 7, 2024
Raducanu’s withdrawal follows Murray’s men’s doubles defeat with brother Jamie on Thursday, and per the Wimbledon rules, Murray is not allowed to re-pair with a new partner in order to play.
Murray and Raducanu were scheduled to appear fourth on Court 1 today (Saturday), with their match against Marcelo Arevalo and Zhang Shuai likely to have started around 7pm BST. Raducanu is then due to face New Zealand qualifier Lulu Sun on Sunday in the fourth round of the women’s singles — her best run in a Grand Slam tournament since she won the US Open title in 2021.
Raducanu has won all three of her singles matches so far in straight sets and is in the same half of the draw as second seed Coco Gauff, which has opened up dramatically throughout the tournament, after the withdrawal of third seed Aryna Sabalenka and the exits of eighth and ninth seeds Zheng Qinwen and Maria Sakkari — the latter of whom Raducanu beat to reach the fourth round.
Murray, meanwhile, bid farewell to a packed Centre Court on Thursday after his men’s doubles exit. “I’m ready to finish playing,” he said. “I don’t want that to be the case. I would love to play, like I said, forever. But, today, even though it was a doubles match where physically it’s obviously not as demanding, it’s still really hard for me.
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“This year’s been tough with the ankle, then obviously the back surgery, obviously the hip. I’m ready to finish playing because I can’t play to the level that I would want to anymore.
“That’s something that I guess is a bit out of my control. If I knew my body was going to be able to do it, I would play — there’s nothing about the sport that I hate and I’m like, I don’t want to do it anymore for this reason. I like the travelling. I love the competition, practicing, trying to get better, all those things.
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“I know that it’s time now. Yeah, I’m ready for that.”
Raducanu, 21, earlier this week described Murray’s relationship with Wimbledon as intrinsic, and said that the chance to play with him was unmissable.
“My doubles record isn’t exactly the longest, or the most vast, but I couldn’t say no. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said.
“It’s a dream of mine since I was a young girl, since watching the Olympics. Andy’s a hero to all of us. So for me, it’s a real gift and it’s a real honour that he asked me and it’s a moment that I could never say no to.
“And I’m just super excited to be on the mixed doubles court and hopefully learn a thing or two about coming to the net or something.”
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‘Tragicomic lack of occasion’
Analysis from Charlie Eccleshare
Having spent weeks and months trying to be in a position to enjoy an appropriate ending to his Wimbledon career it ends not with a bang for Andy Murray, but with a tweet from the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA.)
It was through this forum that Emma Raducanu announced her withdrawal from their mixed doubles match because of stiffness in her wrist, and just like that, Murray’s SW19 career, with its two titles, one the first for a British man in 77 years, was over.
As underwhelming as farewells go, this has to be right up there. Not just for Murray, but for everyone else, like the fans that had queued to see him and the supporters scrolling through a phone ready to watch, before seeing the announcement pop up on a screen. This will not make for the most exciting ‘where were you when’ moment in years to come.
But while you couldn’t write a worse ending, you also couldn’t come up with a more perfect encapsulation of a theme that has dominated tennis in 2024: the art of bowing out of tennis is not for the player in question to decide.
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Their bodies decide. Or other players decide. Or a myriad of other circumstances. Even the great Roger Federer probably didn’t have losing 6-0 to Hubert Hurkacz high on his list of how to say goodbye to Wimbledon.
In Murray’s case, it’s a combination of his body and Raducanu’s priorities. Murray could also curse Maria Sakkari at this point. If she had just played like the world No 9 she’s supposed to be and beaten Raducanu yesterday, then this wouldn’t be happening. In that alternate universe Murray would have the Saturday night send-off with Raducanu that he and we had all been promised. Likewise if he’d chosen another mixed doubles partner, or not ruptured ankle ligaments against Tomas Machac four months ago, or… But this is of course completely futile, because in an individual sport like tennis, these variables are baked in. That’s the deal — as harsh as it feels at times like this.
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As for the Raducanu of it all, the debate has already started about her conduct here. Surely she could have done the decent thing here and played through whatever pain she has? Maybe, but this sort of thing happens all the time. Playing mixed doubles with a singles player carries the inherent risk that they will pull out to focus on their singles, as Raducanu has done here.
With its almost tragicomic lack of occasion, this is above all else a definitive reminder of the fact that athletes don’t get to choose how they bow out.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
