Emma Raducanu criticized by British tennis star over Andy Murray farewell controversy
Murray's farewell ended after Raducanu pulled out of their mixed doubles match on Saturday.
Dan Evans didn’t want to be too harsh in his criticism of Emma Raducanu but made it clear to the 21-year-old that her act toward Andy Murray wasn’t fair and that she should learn from it and do better next time if she finds herself in a similar situation. Last Wednesday, Raducanu confirmed the reports that she accepted to play mixed doubles with Murray in his Wimbledon farewell. Addressing her decision, an ecstatic Raducanu said she had no second thoughts after Murray reached out with his invitation.
But then on Saturday, Raducanu pulled out of the mixed doubles event – citing wrist soreness – just before their scheduled opening match. And since Murray didn’t compete in the singles event and had already lost in the men’s doubles tournament with his brother Jamie Murray, Raducanu’s withdrawal also meant an end to his farewell at The Championships.
Reacting to the news on X, Judy Murray used the word “astonishing” – but after the media quickly picked up the story – she later defended herself by insisting she wasn’t taking a jab at Raducanu but was just being “sarcastic.”
Evans to Raducanu: Should have been fully committed in this situation…
“It’s just unfortunate how it played out, with Emma pulling out a few hours before their match on Court No 1 because she had a sore wrist. Of course the singles is a player’s priority – the prize money on offer is substantially more – and that will always be Emma’s main focus,” Evans wrote in a column for The Daily Mail.
“But once you agree to play doubles with someone – especially in a special situation like this – then you should be fully committed to it. I recently played doubles with Andy at Roland-Garros and he waited around all week to play with me, having been knocked out in the singles.
“I can’t blame Emma for pulling out but there’s a lesson in there about not committing unless you’re 100 percent on board.” After Raducanu suffered a surprise round-of-16 loss to Lulu Sun on Sunday, Raducanu said she was “standing by her decision” because everyone knows her injury history and she simply felt that playing that particular day would have been too risky.
