Emma Raducanu: I have to prioritise myself, my singles and my body
Emma Raducanu has explained why she withdrew from Wimbledon mixed doubles with Andy Murray, revealing that she has to ‘prioritise’ her body.
Raducanu saw her Wimbledon singles run come to an end yesterday, losing in the fourth round to qualifier Lulu Sun, 2-6 7-5 2-6.
This defeat came a day after Raducanu decided to withdraw from the mixed doubles tournament, citing stiffness in her wrist.
As a result, Raducanu was met with some criticism due to it being Murray’s final Wimbledon, but the Brit has justified her decision when speaking to press.
“I have to prioritise myself, my singles and my body,” said Raducanu. “I think it was the right decision. Yeah, obviously it was a tough decision, though, 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, prioritising their body.”
One of those to comment on the situation was Andy Murray’s mother, Judy Mother, who branded the decision ‘astonishing’ in a post on social media, in a comment that the Scot has since claimed was sarcasm.
However, Raducanu has brushed off this remark with a smile on her face saying, “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”
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
There have also been some critics of Raducanu saying that she should not have partnered with Andy Murray in the first place to prevent this from happening, but the 21-year-old has revealed that she was not expecting to progress this far in singles.
“I think going into the tournament, I wasn’t expecting to make the fourth round. So for me, it was a no-brainer. I would have loved to have played, ” explained Raducanu.
“He didn’t ask me ‘If you’re still in the singles, are you going to play?’ That was never a question to be answered. Given how I woke up yesterday morning, it was for me a no-brainer.”
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Despite the disappointment of defeat yesterday, Raducanu will return to the top 100 when the WTA rankings update next week after her best Grand Slam run since winning the 2021 US Open.
Inside the baseline…
Although it appeared to be an opportunity for Emma Raducanu to progress to the Wimbledon quarter-finals yesterday, Lulu Sun produced a fantastic performance and hit an incredible 52 winners compared to the Brit’s 19. It was clear that Raducanu was struggling with some pain in her back, which was heightened when slipping in the third set, so really it has proven that she was right to make the decision to skip mixed doubles and the conversation should end there.
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