LONDON – The ironies of tennis. In an era dominated by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, the person who ended Andy Murray’s Wimbledon career was… Emma Raducanu.
“Obviously Andy was disappointed, but I had to prioritize my body,” Raducanu explained to the media. The 2021 US Open champion’s decision of pulling out of the mixed doubles left Murray devastated, because the former world number one was going to enjoy what would be his last match at the All England Club.
This Thursday he received an emotional farewell on the Central Court after falling in the men’s doubles alongside his brother Jamie; on Saturday it was his turn to say goodbye to Court 1 alongside Raducanu.
Neither he nor his circle wanted to speak publicly on the subject, but it was Judy Murray, his mother, who showed, with irony, that discomfort on social networks.
“Yes, astonishing,” Judy replied about a post on Twitter about Raducanu’s withdrawal due to a stiff wrist. The intention of the 21-year-old tennis player was not to put her physique at risk thinking about the singles, although the gamble brought her a lot of criticism. Lulu Sun, the revelation of the tournament coming from the qualifiers eliminated her with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“Not sure if anyone understands sarcasm these days,” Judy tweeted back after the storm she generated in the media. “I’m sure scheduling played a major role in the decision making.” She later changed her account to private.
More irony? The New Zealander’s sponsor. In the match against Raducanu, the 23-year-old tennis player wore a patch on her chest that read “astonish”. Taking advantage of the exposure she would have on Centre Court, a cleaning company of that name paid her to appear on her apparel.
“I didn’t see Judy’s reaction, but whatever she said, I’m sure she didn’t mean it,” Raducanu said at a press conference, with a smile. The Briton of Chinese and Romanian descent assured that her decision had been the right one after having accepted the All England and Murray’s proposal without thinking twice: “I can’t say it was a mistake to have accepted the invitation, because I felt very well physically and the pains appeared afterwards. It was a difficult decision. I didn’t want to take away his last match, but I had to prioritize”.
Alcaraz, understanding
After advancing to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Carlos Alcaraz was sympathetic to the Briton.
“I’m sure it wasn’t something she wanted to do. She had her reasons, physical problems. She had a fourth round of Grand Slams singles ahead of her and I’m sure a lot of players in her position would have done the same. Obviously knowing it was going to be Andy Murray’s last match, it was a very complicated thing to handle,” Alcaraz said.
