British tennis star Emma Raducanu has hit back with the cheekiest of retorts after Judy Murray appeared to criticise her decision to pull out of the Wimbledon mixed doubles with her son Andy Murray.
Raducanu, 21, had been set to join forces with veteran Brit Murray, 37, against Zhang Shuai and Marcelo Arevalo earlier this month but withdrew from the competition, citing stiffness in her right wrist on the morning of the round-one clash.
It ultimately meant the end of Murray’s SW19 career, with the two-time Wimbledon champion due to retire after this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
As news of Raducanu’s shock withdrawal broke, sports broadcaster Marcus Buckland told his followers on X: ‘Astonishing news that Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from her mixed doubles match with Andy Murray.
‘She’s citing soreness in her right wrist.
‘It means Murray has played his last match at Wimbledon. Oh dear!’
Before long, Murray’s mother Judy – the former captain of Great Britain’s Fed Cup team -responded to the post, replying, ‘Yes, astonishing’, which many took as a swipe against the young 2021 US Open champion.
‘Not sure anyone understands sarcasm these days,’ Murray wrote on X.
‘Pretty sure the scheduling (4th match court 1 with a singles following day) will have played a major part in any decision making.’
Raducanu had been in line to feature at the 33rd Olympic Games in the French capital, but decided to snub the Roland-Garros event to avoid further injury problems which may have come with the sudden change to clay.
Instead, Raducanu is competing at the Washington Open, where she edged past Elise Mertens in three sets to secure a place in the second round last night.
After battling through jet lag to seal victory, Raducanu took to Instagram to celebrate the win and appeared to receive an invitation from Frances Tiafoe to play mixed doubles in the US capital.
Tiafoe wrote, ‘Mixed…’, to which Raducanu responded, ‘Astonishing’, along with a laughing emoji – seemingly referencing Judy Murray’s social media antics from earlier this month.
After her first-round defeat of Belgium’s Mertens, Raducanu said her jet lag had caused her to ‘lose some focus’ in Washington.
‘I was playing some pretty good tennis in patches throughout, especially in the first set and moments in the third set.
‘I lost some focus in the second. It’s not easy playing at 11.30pm. I got here on Thursday night so I’m still jet lagged.
‘I was telling myself, “I’m not leaving. This is not happening. You’re not losing this match!”.’
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