Andy Murray defends Emma Raducanu for Wimbledon mixed doubles refusal

Emma Raducanu will not be at Paris Olympics so as not to risk her body with the triple switch grass-clay-hard-courts. After the positive tournament at Wimbledon, the young British player will return directly to the North American hard-courts swing. A wise decision, as I have repeatedly underlined in my previous articles on the issue. Emma has decided to focus her energies on surfaces that are congenial to her and, as fantastic as the atmosphere is, it would not have made sense to play at Paris Olympics and risk all the good work done in recent months.

The young former winner of the US Open 2021 – as I said above – reached the 4th round at Wimbledon: an important result, arrived after months of hard work, in which Raducanu managed to find a balance between tennis, training and private life, finally finding her tennis and good results.

Many fans have not forgiven her (again, these fans are wrong, as I explained in my previous articles) the withdrawal from the mixed doubles of Wimbledon. De facto, Emma did not allow Andy Murray to play his last event of his career at Wimbledon. A decision taken conscientiously by the young British player, who did not want to put further pressure on her body, already engaged in the women’s singles of the Championships.

In a recent interview with BBC, it was the Scottish champion who defended his young British countrywoman from criticism, underlining how he respects the decision taken by Raducanu.

“The ending was a little bit strange because of what happened. But at the same time, when I think about it, it was special that I could finish with my brother. Raducanu? Athletes always make the best decision for themselves and she obviously had the opportunity to do well in the singles. That was the decision she made and I respect that,” he said.

In an interview with Tennis Magazin, Emma instead talked about the difficult period she went through and her expectations for the coming months. The British woman experienced the nightmare of physical problems as an opportunity for personal growth, getting to know herself better.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned to feel good outside of tennis, where you always have to be healthy and hungry. That doesn’t necessarily happen in practice and matches, where I have to keep the edge and the spark in my game, even though I was eager to get back to playing after the break. It can be exhausting to play week in and week out on tour, fulfilling all the obligations that come with being a professional tennis player.

For me, the best solution is to do things my way, that’s what’s always worked for me. The concept has changed for me, in the long run it means staying healthy. It’s about doing everything you can, not so much to train hard, but to train smart and not get injured. I’ve had the opportunity to experience how time flies when you can’t train or play for a long time. It’s not a fun situation. Success means I do everything I can to make sure I’m able to train and stay healthy.

It’s a challenge, but I’m in the process of finding my way and learning new lessons. Learning to handle certain situations, to react to them. I have to learn all this in the eyes of the world audience, so learning comes after the results. For most young people, learning comes first and then the result, but in my case it was the opposite with the US Open title, from which I then had to learn afterwards. In the end you see it as a blessing, because most tennis players have to struggle financially at the beginning of their career, but thanks to that title I no longer had this problem. At my young age I have had as many life experiences as some forty-year-olds do, so I am very grateful and happy.

It must be said that in the last three years, the depth of women’s tennis has increased enormously again. There are more and more players who can win every tournament, and the results prove it. Sure, there are some dominant players on the tour, but victory and defeat are always close. The level of many players depends on several factors, including their current form. I realized it myself at the 2021 US Open, where my form was fantastic for three weeks, allowing me to win one of the most important tournaments in the world. What has improved a lot are the defensive qualities of the players, which have improved a lot since I grew up in tennis. Every player is now an athlete and has better skills on the court,” she explained.

Raducanu concluded by revealing her expectations for this second part of the season: “I have reassessed my goals for this year several times, I think my goals change a lot. My priority is to develop my game, which means I probably won’t play many tournaments this year. I don’t want to make up for lost time in 2023 by only playing tournaments, but to build a concrete and important base to be in good physical and game shape over the next few years.”